Undercover
by freakily obsessed Yassen fan
Summary: This is a sort of follow-up from Lonely. Yassen meets a girl for one night, then discovers she works for MI6 when she's sent on a mission into SCORPIA. Worse, he find himself falling for her, but who does he owe more to? SCORPIA, or Kerryn? R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Yassen, Blunt, or SCORPIA. but i do own the O/C's! And i know that i normally finish a fic before starting another, but hey... anyway, Enjoy! and please R&R! D**

I opened my eyes. Something was different, but it took me a moment or two to work out what it was. Then I realised and looked down. A pair of unfamiliar arms, one of them marked by a long scar, was wrapped around my body and I froze. The events of the night before filtered back into my mind. How drunk had I been?

The man beside me stirred and lifted his head. He didn't seem surprised to find himself next to me and even gave me a sleepy smile. I tried to return it, but couldn't. I sighed and stood up, pulling the duvet with me. The man on the bed threw himself out of sight, crashing to the floor in an ungainly heap.

At least he was better looking than some of the guys I'd woken up with, I thought as I walked into the bathroom across the hall. He was slim and pale; his hair was so blonde it was almost white. And his eyes…they seemed to hold you down. I shook my head to clear it and stepped into the shower.

Over the rushing water, I heard to front door open and close. Part of me wanted to go and call him back, at least ask for his name, but a larger part realised that I was late for work already and I let him go. When I came out of the shower, there was a scrap of paper on my pillow.

I picked it up and glanced at it. _Thanks. YG._ I gave a snort of laughter. Thanks? The piece of paper went into the bin as I passed it to get to my wardrobe.

Ten minutes, and several outfits later, I closed the door behind me and ran barefoot down the pavement, my high-heels swinging from my hand. I slipped them on as I entered the office and walked in with what I hoped, was the air of someone who'd come in early, but had been delayed by someone important.

It didn't work. As I crept past my boss's door, he came rushing out into the corridor and grabbed my arm.

"Where the hell have you been? No don't answer that, I don't want to hear another excuse. Mr. Blunt has come from London, they have a job for you." He scarcely paused for breath as he dragged me into his cramped office. Sure enough, Alan Blunt, MI6's second in command was sitting at the desk.

I'd met him once before, but was again struck by how dull he was. He was entirely grey, a fact that was only emphasized by his grey suit. I shook his hand quickly and then sat down in the chair he gestured to.

"Good morning." He said eventually, his English was perfect, he sounded like a news reporter. I didn't reply, just sat there looking expectant. It put people off like nothing else and I just couldn't resist.

"Yes… well, anyway, where was I… we have a job for you, Kerryn." I sat up at that; no one of higher rank ever called me by my first name when I was at work. This must be urgent. "There's a reasonably new organisation, SCORPIA, they get their name from their main areas of work, Sabotage, Corruption, Intelligence and Assassination.

"They're getting to be too big and ruthless for us to leave them alone, which is where you come in." I cut across him before he could finish.

"You want me to go undercover and join them?" Blunt nodded seriously. I grinned. I had been longing for another mission for ages. My smile soon faded as Blunt explained about SCORPIA, they were definitely dangerous. Their main area at the moment was assassination and they had a huge group of fully trained assassins. That was why I had to go in, to find out names and planned killings.

By the time he'd finished, Blunt's voice was hoarse from speaking for so long. There was a knock on the door and a guard came in.

"Excuse me, Mr. Blunt, There car's here for you."

"Thank you, Winters, I'll be out in a minute." The man saluted and left, closing the door behind him. "You'll have to come down to London in a week or so to be briefed officially. I'll get a message to you about when you should come down." I nodded and Blunt left the room.

I followed a few seconds later, automatically looking the pair of guards over. One of them flashed me a smile before returning his gaze to the door.

I turned away and slowly climbed the steps up to my tiny shared office. To my office mates and myself, it was known as the weird name room. My name's Kerryn, the other woman is Destiny and the only guy is Blayze.

Today though, only Blayze was in, tapping away on his laptop. He glanced up as I came in and I settled down into the seat next to him.

"What're you doing today then?" I asked.

"I'm writing up a report on the Mafia. How come you're so late?" I smiled, leaning in closer.

"I've got another mission." I said excitedly. Blayze turned to me incredulously.

"How'd you manage that?" he asked. My grin widened and I shrugged.

"I guess I got lucky." I said lightly. Blayze shoved me across the room on my swivel chair. I laughed and stood up. "I don't have anything to do; I might go down and see if I can find Hazel. But I don't think anyone would mind if I went home. I'm feeling a bit sick." Blayze laughed long and hard.

"Hung over more likely. How much did you drink last night?" he gasped finally.

"I didn't drink that much. Well…I might have had a bit more than normal." I said, struggling not to laugh as he raised an eyebrow sardonically. "Alright, I got pissed. Happy now?" Blayze shook his head and turned back to his laptop, chuckling quietly.

I rolled my eyes and left. A few minutes later I was walking home again, there had been nothing for me to do and I really did feel hung over.

My tiny house was quiet, off of the main road. It gave me a fabulous view out over Skiddaw and Latrigg. I sat on my bed for a while and read a few pages of my book. I couldn't get into it though and soon gave up. I decided to go out for a walk and laced up my heavy walking boots.

I didn't really plan my walk, just followed where my feet took me. My mind was whirling with anticipation of my mission and by the time I shook myself out of it, I was halfway up Skiddaw. It was my favourite walk and I continued up. Despite having done it hundreds of times before, I still felt the same thrill when I reached the summit.

The sun was beginning to set by the time I reached it and I sat down on a low wall of stones to watch as the lake below was set on fire and the distant hill turned from green to black.

"You shouldn't be up here alone, it'll be dark soon." I twisted around as I heard the voice. It was familiar and a second later, I knew why. It was the man I had woken up with that morning, the one who signed himself _YG_.

"So why are you up here then?" I challenged. The man laughed and held up his hands.

"You got me there. It's nice up here, isn't it?" I nodded warily. His brow creased slightly and he looked a little perplexed. I gulped in a few deep breaths of air and tried to relax.

"Yeah, it is. Very nice." He smiled and sat down beside me, but not too close. The memory of that morning was still a bit too fresh in our minds. "So what's your name? YG isn't much to go on." He laughed, thought a little awkwardly.

"My name's Yassen." He said. For the first time I picked up his Russian accent, it became more marked when he said his name.

"Just Yassen? No surname?"

"Not one that you need to know." He said shortly, standing up. "Anyway, I've got to go. I would say see you around, but it's probably best if I don't." he walked off, quickly fading into a silhouette. I swore harshly and saw him look back. I could picture the smug grin on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, me again! almost halfway through my exams! and Half term this week so hopefully get a few more updates up! Anyway, enjoy...(and if you do enjoy it, please review!)**

Yassen wasn't smiling when he looked back at Kerryn. His eyes were filled with regret; the relationship thing was the worst thing about his job as an assassin. He hadn't ever had a proper girlfriend; it was just too dangerous, for him… and for her. He sighed and walked off into the sunset.

Three days later and he was back in London, waiting for Julia Rothman. As he sat in the uncomfortable chair, he looked around the room. It was a sort of temporary office; a desk and computer were right in front of him and on the desk, a photo frame.

Yassen turned it round, expecting to see a picture of Julia's dead husband. To his surprise however, he found himself looking into the laughing face of his mentor and teacher, John Rider. So she still loved the man, although he had been dead for a long time now, almost a year now.

He turned it back as the door opened and Julia Rothman came into the room. She shot Yassen a dazzling smile and moved around to sit at the desk. He saw her eyes flick to the picture of John and for an instant her expression softened and her eyes warmed. Then the moment passed and she was all business again, ruthless and cold.

"Good morning, Yassen." She said. "I hope that you're ok." Yassen nodded, but couldn't suppress a slight flexing of his arm where a silver scar ran over the flesh. A stab wound, all her fault.

"Yes thanks. And how are you, Mrs. Rothman?" He asked stiffly. He saw her glance at his arm and relaxed it a little.

"Julia, please. And I'm fine. Now, I'm sure you know why we're here…" Yassen nodded sharply and she smiled at him before continuing. "Well, we think that MI6 might try to put in ano…a spy to disrupt our plans. I need you to keep an eye out and watch all our new recruits." It wasn't a mission to his liking, but Yassen agreed anyway. He didn't really have a choice.

A few minutes later Julia Rothman was called away, leaving Yassen on his own in her office. He looked for a couple of seconds at the picture of John Rider before leaving. There were a few people walking around, they all treated him with the utmost respect, the tiny scorpion badge on his t-shirt said it all. And if nothing else, the bulge at his hip warned anyone that might have said something of his assassin status.

Someone tapped his shoulder. He spun on the spot, his hand drawing the gun from its holster and bringing it up to point at the person behind him. It was a young man, looking absolutely terrified at having to talk to Yassen; having the barrel of a gun pointed in his face probably wasn't helping his nerves either. Yassen lowered the pistol and slid it into the holster. He raised a questioning eyebrow as he looked at the man.

"What do you want?" he asked shortly.

"Mr. Kroll says that there's someone coming in next week, a new recruit. He wants you to check up on her, he says that she seems too good to be true." Yassen rolled his eyes. It was typical of Kroll to set him a stupid mission, just to waste his time. The two men had never seen eye to eye, and Kroll took advantage of his superiority to make Yassen's life difficult.

"Tell Kroll… Mr. Kroll," he corrected sarcastically, "That I already have a mission to take care of and can't take time off to check the girl over. Sorry." He turned away and strode quickly down the corridor and out into the London air. He stopped just outside the door and, glancing around furtively, ducked off the path and into the bushes at the side.

He soon found himself out the back of the building, well out of sight of the many security cameras all around the place: something that would have to be corrected, but not now, and not by him. Now, he was heading back to his own flat.

It was small but well furnished, offering a decent view over the wide brown river. He had been given a flat by SCORPIA, but didn't use it often. He preferred to be where they didn't know where he was. This was the best place to do that.

As soon as he shut and locked the heavy door behind him, he felt his whole body relax. The windows were blacked out, and bullet-proof, the only way through the door without a key was to burn through it with a blow-torch. He was safe here.

He walked aimlessly around, trailing a finger lightly over the spines of shelf after shelf of books. He finally selected one, a heavy hard-back of Spanish. He settled onto his sofa and curled, cat-like, around the book and started to read.

It was over an hour later when he next stirred, other than turning pages of course. He stretched out and stood up, carefully folding a bookmark into the book before laying it on the table at the end of the sofa.

Yassen padded silently into the kitchen, his stomach telling him to eat. He picked up a couple of satsumas as he made his way to the fridge and peeled them while he selected a meal. He eventually settled on curry and set about preparing it.

By the time it was done it was dark outside, or it would have been if the streetlights hadn't dyed the sky a sickly brown-orange. Yassen ate in silence, his mind wandering for the first time that day. It settled on the girl in the Lakes, there was something different about her…

He shook his head, shoving the memories away and ignoring them when they came back stronger than ever. He rolled his eyes and pushed his half-empty plate away; he wasn't hungry anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Yassen, etc but i do own Kerryn! YAY! oh, and i think i'm going to alternate beween Yassen and Kerryn's POV, is that ok? anyway, enjoy! And plese review!  
**

I leant forward in my seat; London was appearing in the distance. Even from here I could see the haze from the exhaust fumes. Above me, the sky was as blue as a Caribbean ocean, but in the distance, over our Capital, the sky was a dirty grey-brown.

SCORPIA were in there somewhere. I felt my stomach clench at the mere thought. But MI6 were there too, I'd be fine… yeah… anyway, moving on...

I turned away from the window and turned to talk to the driver.

"How long will it take before we get there?" I asked.

"About half an hour, if we don't hit any bad traffic." He said, not shifting his gaze from the windscreen. I rolled my eyes and sat back in the seat, closing my eyes. The drive had been ridiculously long; we had set off at ten AM, over five hours ago now. The traffic was terrible; I couldn't see why the driver had made the "bad traffic" comment: If the traffic was any worse it would be faster to walk.

I settled myself into the seat again, trying to sleep despite the scorching heat and loud engines on all sides. Somehow I managed to drift off and woke over an hour later when we pulled up outside the MI6 headquarters.

A woman was waiting on the pavement. She stepped forward and opened the door for me as the car stopped. She smiled falsely as I uncurled my aching body and stumbled out of the car. I pushed the door shut behind me as the woman, Hannah as it said on her badge, took my bags from the driver and led the way into the building.

The huge room was blessedly cool after the blazing sunshine outside. The floor was marble and it was so highly polished that it reflected the intricately carved ceiling perfectly. I paused for a second to look up, but had to hurry to catch up with Hannah as she stepped into a lift and pressed a button, regardless of whether I was there or not.

I slid inside as the doors clanged shut and felt the familiar swooping sensation in my stomach as the lift moved, not up but down. I staggered a little as I walked out of the mirrored box. Alan Blunt was sitting at a desk, flanked by the same men who had come to Keswick with him, and with a dark haired woman standing behind him. She appeared to be sucking on something.

"Ah, Miss Baines, finally." It was the woman speaking and I smiled warily and sat down in the uncomfortable chair in front of the desk. Hannah put my bags down by my side, handed Blunt an envelope and walked back into the lift, leaving me alone with them.

"How was the journey?" Blunt asked, turning the envelope over and slitting it open.

"It was awful." I said honestly. Blunt looked up, surprised, and then gave a soft chuckle.

"Yes, you came at just the wrong time of day." I nodded fervently and he gave another chuckle. "Anyway, to business." He said, suddenly more businesslike and brisk than I'd seen him before. "This is Mrs. Jones, my second-in-command if you will. She's in charge of your mission."

At those words, Mrs. Jones stepped forward. Her breath smelt of peppermint. I looked up at her expectantly, in the most off-putting way I knew. (I know that I'm a bit of a sadist, and I just can't resist annoying the high-ups at MI6.)

She gave me a withering look and continued regardless.

"We are going to insert you into SCORPIA one week from now. You will be met at Victoria Station by one of their agents. You'll be searched, obviously, and so we've developed a lot of concealed weaponry for you to use. Anyway, we've got you a good reputation, you're an assassin, and we've used some names from your missions so it'll all check out.

"So you're taken in by SCORPIA, you gain access to the mission files and send them to us. If it gets a bit too dangerous for your liking, we'll come and pull you out." She made it sound so simple, I almost believed her, I would have done, if it wasn't for the shared glance between the two guards.

"What's the catch? What do you really want to find?" Blunt's face tightened for a second, but he hid it almost instantly. Mrs. Jones glanced at him as if for permission and he gave a curt nod. I watched in silence. Finally Mrs. Jones turned back to me and, sighing, began to speak.

"Two weeks ago, a man was kidnapped, a scientist. His name is David Marsh. SCORPIA have claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. We want you to keep an eye out for him, and any missions they might be planning that relate to him." I raised an eyebrow; she was again simplifying it, making it sound easy. I knew from experience that it wouldn't be.

"Ok then, which is more important, him, or a mission based on him?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"The mission's more important. He was working on a new drug that can kill huge numbers of people in one go. If SCORPIA got their hands on it…" she left the rest to my imagination. It was grim, however I looked at it.

"Ok, one week then." I stood up. Mrs. Jones pressed a button on the desk and the lift doors opened behind me.

"Here's a couple of books for you to read, they're about the drug, and weaponry." I took them from her and picked up my bags from the floor. I gave a small salute before I walked to the lift. It carried me up to the top floor where there were a few rooms for agents; they were small and sparsely furnished: only containing a bed, chair, desk and a chest of drawers.

All the same, I fell gratefully onto the bed and closed my eyes. It was only half past five, but I was exhausted; the meeting with Blunt and Mrs. Jones had drained all of my energy. Within a couple of minutes I was fast asleep on the thin mattress.

I was dark outside when I woke up; I guessed that it must be about half past nine. Slowly, I straightened out from my foetal curl and stood up. I walked down the stairs and out into the warm night air. My stomach was growling and I stopped briefly to buy a sandwich.

I walked as I ate, going nowhere in particular, just walking. My mind was focused on my upcoming mission and, scared as I was, I couldn't help but feel excited. I lived for my missions, without them, I didn't know what I would do. And this one seemed relatively simple.

I sighed and tossed the remainder of my sandwich into a bin. I walked slowly back to the "bank" and back up to my room; I used the stairs again, not wanting to shut myself into the lift. By the time I reached my room I was tired again and fell asleep quickly.

The rest of the week passed swiftly, I was taken on weapons training courses and taught how to act like an assassin. It worked, by the time I arrived at Victoria Station I felt invincible.

The man waiting for me at the main entrance was young, a couple of years younger than me. He took my bags and led me to the waiting car without saying a word. We sped through the crowded London streets, doubling back and taking corners at ridiculous speeds. We weren't being followed; we didn't have to be followed. The tiny tracking device in my shoe was more than enough for MI6 to follow my progress. I was on my way.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi, sorry but i have LOADS of ideas for this one, and not many for "Like Father, Like Daughter"! It's annoying! anyway here's the next chapter, from Yassen's POV by the way. there a bit of tortury-stuff in this chappie, just so you know... Anyway, enjoy...**

Yassen sat back, cradling his aching head in his hands. The incessant pounding on the door wasn't helping. He had moved back into the flat given to him by SCORPIA a couple of days ago, it was safer when he had a mission coming up. He groaned and levered himself out of the bed. He stumbled to the door and pulled it open.

The agent standing there was young, about twenty or so, and his face was glazed with fearful sweat, it was clear that he was terrified of Yassen.

"What is it?" Yassen asked shortly. The man gulped and opened his mouth. No sound came out. "Hurry up!" Yassen snapped.

"Mrs. Rothman would like you to go and see her right away. She ordered me to bring you back with me." He said, almost apologetically. Yassen sighed and shut the door in the man's face. He dressed quickly and then, sliding his gun into the holster at his hip, opened the door again. The man was still standing there looking thoroughly bewildered.

Yassen shut and locked the door behind them and followed the man down the stairs and out into the London air. They walked quickly, as though they had an important appointment, but not fast enough to attract attention. A few minutes later they ducked through the door of the building.

Julia Rothman was standing in the corridor talking comfortably to a couple of scientists, at least, Yassen guessed that they were scientists, they wore white coats and that was good enough for him. She turned and gave him a shining smile as he approached.

"Yassen, excellent, this is our top assassin, Yassen Gregorovich. Yassen, this is Doctor Smith and Doctor Niko. They're helping to develop a new drug for us to use. We have a prisoner who is going to tell us how to make it. That's why you're here; you're a… persuasive person. We need your help to get the information out of him." Yassen nodded but, unseen, clenched his teeth. He loathed torturing people.

They walked down the corridor, the man who had come to get Yassen peeling away through another door. Julia Rothman was still talking animatedly to the two scientists while Yassen walked silently behind. He didn't let his distaste show but inside, his whole body revolted against the torture.

By the time they reached the cell where the man was being held, Yassen had noticed the upstage in security, the corridor was lined with armed men; blank-faced and emotionless, they would kill in an instant. Yassen gave them a disdainful glance, they weren't assassins, they were just soldiers really.

One of the scientists bumped into Yassen as he stepped out of Julia's way. Yassen gave the smaller man a withering look and he shrank back, alarmed. Yassen relaxed, but let his hand drift to his hip where the gun was. He saw the man's eyes follow it and allowed himself a small smile.

Julia Rothman had got the door opened and now led the way into the concrete cell. A man was lying chained and dishevelled on a narrow bed. The room already smelled of blood and Yassen wrinkled his nose a little at the metallic tang. Julia stepped forward.

"Do you still refuse to tell us how to make your drug?" she asked coldly. The man gave weak nod, reaching up with a manacled hand to wipe a thread of blood from his mouth. The two scientists backed up against the wall, their discomfort evident, but their excitement just as obvious. Julia jerked her head at Yassen and he stepped forward. He took a steadying breath before gripping one of the man's fingers in his hand.

"I'll ask you one more time. Will you tell us how to make your drug?" the man gave another weak shake of his head and Yassen instantly pulled on his finger. It broke with a sharp snap. The man cried out in pain and Julia Rothman let out a small laugh before repeating the question. The man gave the same response and Yassen snapped another of his fingers.

This time the man seemed to hesitate before giving the same answer. Another finger, breaking like dry twigs, Julia's face was luminous with excitement and pleasure. Yassen felt sickened by her. But this answer as to the affirmative and he was able to step back.

The man slumped before beginning to dictate the instructions. The two scientists scribbled furiously at their pads. Yassen leant against the wall, shutting out the noise of the man's pain filled voice. The snaps his fingers had made as they broke would echo in his head for a while Yassen knew.

After what seemed like an age, the man's voice stopped and the four of them left.

Yassen left Julia and the two scientists as they made their way to the laboratory together, deep in discussion. He walked slowly around the compound, watching the students running around the track. He was glad that he wasn't a trainer; he wouldn't have had the patience to work with the students.

He knew that a fully trained assassin was arriving later on that day and was looking forward to meeting her. It was unusual to have a trained member join; they were mostly loyal to whoever had done the training, the organisation that had made them what they were. But it was still a good thing.

He tore his mind away from his thoughts and set off around the track, walking slowly at first but soon breaking into a run. He did five laps. By the end his chest was heaving and his legs burning, but he felt energised and refreshed. A group of students had gathered to watch but they soon moved off when Yassen stopped.

He glanced up, beyond the retreating backs of the students he could see a car pulling up. He recognised it, it was the car used to pick up new recruits. The new assassin had arrived. He straightened up, brushing a hand across his brow.

He walked quickly over the grass, overtaking the students as he made his way to the car. The woman inside got out before he could reach it. He froze. He saw her dark blonde hair, falling loose to her shoulders, her startling blue eyes, the soft lips. It was the woman from Keswick. And she had seen him, her eyes widened in shock and, it seemed, fear.

Yassen stood undecided for a few seconds, and then turned 90 degrees and walked away from her. He could feel her eyes on him and walked a little quicker. He stopped once he was out of sight. She hadn't seemed to be an assassin, she hadn't been as wary as an assassin would have been. But then he hadn't been particularly wary…

He swore quietly and walked into the building. She was standing at the end of the corridor, talking to Julia Rothman. She glanced at Yassen as he appeared, and before he could move away, Julia had turned and seen him.

"Yassen, our new member has arrived. This is Kerryn Healey, Kerryn; this is our top assassin, Yassen Gregorovich." She inclined her head to him and he responded in the same way, giving her a small smile. She ignored him, turning instead to Julia. Yassen left them and walked past Kerryn, suddenly aware of the narrowness of the corridor. His arm brushed against hers and tingled gently.

He walked faster, out of the building and back to the flat. What was he going to do? He knew that Healey wasn't her real name; he had seen letters addressed to Kerryn Baines. And the only people who needed fake names were spies.

Theoretically it was simple, he told SCORPIA about her and she was killed before MI6 or whoever had sent her could do anything about it. But in practise it was much harder. He liked her; they had had a laugh in the pub that night. And he didn't want to be responsible for her death.

He sighed and picked up the book. He thumbed through it vacantly, his mind miles away. Finally he gave up and lay back on the sofa. It was still early but he needed to think. Slowly he drifted off to sleep.

**Hope you liked it! if you did please review! I would set a review limit before i put the next chapter up, but i cba if i'm honest! lol!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yes, i know that it's short, but I couldn't think of anything else to write from Kerryn's POV, sorry. guilty smile anyway, i hope that you enjoy this ridiculously short chapter...**

I watched as Yassen walked away. I hadn't given him a second thought since that evening. He was, as far as I was concerned, I thing of the past. But if he gave me away then I was dead. No two ways about it.

I sighed before turning my attention back to Julia Rothman. She was talking animatedly about a new plan that they had concocted, but I wasn't really listening. Until I heard the name David Marsh. She noticed as I snapped to attention and stopped.

"Sorry," I said, thinking on my feet. "I heard that he was kidnapped, but I didn't know that it was you." I cast my mind back to the newspaper articles I'd read. "Wasn't he working on a drug to kill hundreds of people at once?" She nodded, smiling.

"Yes. That's what we want from him. He gave us the ingredients and instructions earlier today." I heard the glee in her voice and, though I hid it, felt sick. She continued talking but soon it drifted away from David Marsh and I stopped listening again.

Eventually I was allowed to go; an agent was assigned to take me to my flat. It was only a short walk away. The door was heavy and thick, with a complicated lock. The agent, a grizzled, limping old man, only really a guard, opened it.

I sat down on the bed, looking out at the river. My mind was on Yassen, suddenly his strange behaviour made a lot more sense. He hadn't wanted to tell me his name because he didn't want it in anyone's mind. Names… Shit!

He must have known my real name, if he told Julia Rothman… I swore again, rolling backwards and clutching my head. The mission was all going wrong, and it hadn't even really begun! For a minute I was tempted to call MI6 and ask to be pulled out, but my spy side rebelled against that idea. I wanted to stay, despite the danger.

I got up and looked around the flat, searching for bugs. There weren't any, clearly SCORPIA trusted their agents, big mistake. I smiled and walked around for a while. I was just getting the feel of the place really. Noticing emergency exits and places which could make a target for a sniper outside was second nature to me and I did it automatically. The glass was bullet-proof, but you could never be too sure.

Finally, I tired of that and sat down on the sofa. I wondered briefly who else was in the block of flats.

There was a soft knock on the door. I froze for a second but quickly got up and walked to the heavy door. I slid back the bolts and pulled it open. Yassen was standing awkwardly on the step.

I stepped wordlessly aside and he walked past. He went straight to the sitting room and sat down; I locked the door again and followed.

"You're a spy." He said quietly. I didn't bother to deny it. He didn't look at me once, just stared out of the window, he didn't speak again and finally I'd had enough of sitting in silence.

"Yes. Are you going to turn me in to them?" he glanced at me, and then stood up.

"I don't know what to do." He whispered. "I _should_ turn you in but…" he fell silent. I went over and stood beside him, both of us gazing moodily out at the sluggish brown water of the river.

"You didn't tell her earlier." I said hopefully. He gave a little snort and raised an eyebrow.

"I was confused, Kerryn Baines." Yassen was smiling, but I still swore. He did know my name.

"So why haven't you told SCORPIA about me?" I asked. I looked up at him, noticing as I did so that his eyes were clouded with sleep, just as they had been that morning. It didn't help.

"Don't worry about why; just know that I haven't told them, yet." He turned and looked at me directly for the first time. His eyes gave nothing away, they were like ice and I knew they covered a soul that was as cold. His smooth, clean shaven face was free of any expression.

"Don't tell them. They'll kill me." My voice was pleading and I thought I saw a flicker of expression cross Yassen's face. But it was there and gone again before I could focus.

"That's your fault. You shouldn't have come here." He snapped. I nodded, and then caught his arm as he turned to go.

"Please. Please don't give me away." He gave me suspicious look, as if to see whether I meant what I was saying, I put all the honesty I had into the look I shot back. Finally he nodded.

"I won't, for now. But mind what you do, don't annoy me." I smiled gratefully and let go of his arm. It was his left and I remembered the scar on it. I didn't want him to leave, so I asked him about it and he sat back down.

"It's a stab wound." He said, rolling up his sleeve. "I was on a mission with Julia Rothman and she got the timing wrong and our target saw me. He stabbed my arm instead of my heart but it was a close thing." Now I looked properly, I could see how deep the wound must have been. I tried to keep my eyes on the scar, but they strayed over the finely sculpted muscles in his arm.

I nodded and he rolled the sleeve down again. Yassen stood up gave me a loaded look, part threatening and part regretful. He held out a hand awkwardly and I shook it.

"Don't try and ruin anything for SCORPIA. They'd kill you faster than you could blink." He warned before shutting the door in my face. I sighed and wandered back into the sitting room to collapse on the sofa. It was almost eleven and I went to bed soon after, wishing that I had never accepted this mission.

**Told you it was short... lol. anyway, please review! D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hiya, it's me again! hope you enjoy this chapter, I like it at least... lol. anyway, enjoy...**

Yassen rested his head against Kerryn's door. He hadn't wanted to be so short and cold with her. Slowly he peeled his sweaty brow from the cold door and walked back up to his flat. It was on the opposite side of the building to Kerryn's.

Though it was late, he couldn't fall asleep. His mind was in turmoil and he just couldn't relax. If SCORPIA found out that he was helping a spy then both of them would die. He sighed for what felt like the thousandth time and rolled over.

It was almost dawn by the time he fell asleep, and he was woken at nine by a knocking on his door. He pressed his eye to the peep-hole and looked out. It was Kerryn. He backed up quickly and fled to his bedroom. He quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and walked back to the door.

"What do you want?" he asked through the crack.

"I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?" Yassen briefly considered refusing, but decided against it, if she was seen, then she might give away that they already knew each other. So he grudgingly stood aside and pulled the door open further.

"Sure, come on in." he said. He saw a slight smile on her face as she passed him. He could see that she knew he'd only just gotten out of bed. "What is it?" he asked shortly, annoyed.

"I just thought that we should try and get along a bit better. Otherwise they'll get suspicious.

"You weren't meant to sleep with me. I mean, you weren't allowed really… I don't want to get you in trouble. So we should try and get on, otherwise we'll both be in trouble." She was talking sense, which annoyed Yassen more than anything else. All the same, he nodded.

"Yeah, I guess we should try and get along." Kerryn smiled at him, but he just stared back blankly.

"Getting along means that you should smile back." She said. Yassen bit back the retort that leapt readily to his lips and gave her a smile. She grinned back happily. Externally Yassen was still, but internally he squirmed uncomfortably. Kerryn didn't seem to have noticed and was already making her way to towards the door.

Yassen held it open for her, long forgotten lessons in manners surfacing for the first time in years. She hesitated on the step, seeming to want to say something more. Then her mouth snapped shut and she gave him another smile, this one slightly sad.

Before he could say anything she had turned away and was walking down the stairs and out of sight. Yassen shut the door slowly, Kerryn's expression burned onto his eyes.

He felt far more uncomfortable now than he had in years, that girl could affect him more than anyone else. He swore gently in Russian. It was half past nine and he realised that he should have already been at the compound. He sighed yet again and pulled off the clothes he had worn to answer the door, they were dirty. He dressed again quickly and walked quickly to the compound.

It was quiet, most of the people there were inside, teaching, learning or working on mission details. He walked through it like a ghost; no one stopped him, even without the scorpion badge, the way he held himself and the way he moved proclaimed him to be an assassin.

"Yassen?" he turned, recognising Julia Rothman's voice. She was hanging out of her office door.

"Yes, Julia?" he asked wearily. She was watching him with an expression of concern on her face, faked of course, but he could pretend that someone wanted to know how he felt. And it would be the one person that he really couldn't tell.

"You look awful. Didn't you get any sleep last night?" her face was cold suddenly. Yassen shook his head.

"Not much. Couldn't seem to relax." He said. She still appeared a bit suspicious, but she didn't pressure him.

"Do you want a cup of tea or something? I wanted to talk to you about your mission." Yassen gave a small shrug and obediently followed her into the room. "The scientists you saw the other day wanted me to thank you for getting Marsh to tell them how to make the drug."

"It's fine. It's what I do." Yassen said, feeling his spirits lift a little; it was rare to be thanked for the work they did.

"Now then, you've been keeping a close eye on the new students?" she asked. Yassen nodded, wondering briefly whether doing three training sessions with them counted. "Good, have you spotted any possible MI6 agents among them?"

"No. They're all too relaxed; an agent would be constantly alert and worried about being found out. None of them have enough experience either. No, we're safe from spies in the recruits." He affirmed, worried that he had given too much away. Had he laid a stress on the word "recruits"?

"That's a relief. I was worried that we might be infiltrated aga… that we might be infiltrated." Yassen's head snapped up, what was she talking about? Infiltrated again? Had they been infiltrated before?

He was about to ask what she meant when a guard burst into the office.

"Mrs. Rothman! Something's wrong with the drug, three of the scientists have been killed." She froze, then was out of the door. Yassen didn't see the bit in between, she moved so fast. He sat in her office for a few minutes, wondering if she would be back.

There was a soft sound from the door and he looked up to see Kerryn standing there.

"Can't I get rid of you?" He hissed, standing and walking over to her.

"No. Where's Rothman?" she whispered back.

"She went to the lab. One of our drugs have gone wrong." He said. Her eyes flared briefly, but she hid it well. Not well enough.

"Where is the lab?" she asked casually. Yassen grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to him.

"That's why you're here, isn't it? You had to find out about the drug that Marsh was making." She nodded guiltily.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I had to try." She muttered.

"This isn't a game. If they think anything's wrong, they'll kill you. Don't give them that excuse. Wait here for Julia Rothman, don't you dare go and find the lab." He let go of her arm but stayed close beside her for a moment longer.

Then he turned and slowly walked away, feeling her eyes boring into his back. He glanced back when he reached the corner, she was still gazing steadily at him, but she hadn't moved.

He tore his eyes reluctantly from hers and walked on. A group of students walking towards him split, and walked to the sides of the corridor, watching him pass in an awe filled silence. He sighed and set out for the track. He needed to clear his mind.

**Hope you liked it, please review if you did, even if you didn't in fact... lol.**


	7. Falling

**Hiya, i know it's late but yea, couldn't resist writing this. hope you enjoy it! oh, there a little bit of torture in this one too. And this is the first chapter in this story that I've named...sorry...  
**

I waited until Yassen had turned the corner, counted to twenty, and then moved. I had a vague idea about the whereabouts of the lab and I wandered slowly through the corridors until I found it.

I pressed my ear to the door. I could hear Julia Rothman's voice but not the words. I backed up and thought quickly about what to do. Finally I decided to knock.

The voices stopped. There were quick footsteps and the door was pulled open. The man was wide-eyed with fear and shock.

"Yes, what do you want?"

"I was told to see Mrs. Rothman, Yassen told me that she was down here." The use of Yassen's name had the desired effect and the man stood aside. Julia Rothman was standing talking to another scientist. She looked up and smiled when she saw me. It was hard to believe that she was evil.

"Ah, Kerryn. Yes, I asked you to come and see me didn't I?" I nodded. "Yassen told you where I was did you say?" I nodded again, a little warily this time; I hoped that she wouldn't raise the point with Yassen. She had already turned away and was walking through the laboratory, talking over her shoulder to me.

It seemed that Marsh had given them the wrong ingredients and the drug had killed half of their research team. I tried to hide the happiness that filled my heart at that.

The bodies were still there, laid out under white sheets. I looked away as Julia bent to examine them, I had seen enough death to last me a lifetime. She was asking one of the scientists something. He replied in an undertone and she turned to me.

"I need you to do me a favour. Go and get Yassen and meet us in the holding cells in ten minutes."

"Yassen?" I asked. She nodded and turned away. I walked out of the lab, typical that she'd need him, of all the people in the whole compound. I didn't have a clue where he was and my heart leapt happily for a couple of beats until I saw him walking over the wide lawn, his face glistening with sweat.

He stopped when he saw me and glared at me as I approached.

"What do you want?" he asked. "You went to the lab, didn't you?" I nodded.

"Mrs. Rothman wants to see you in the holding cells in five minutes." I said before he could start having a go at me. He glared at me for a second longer, and then walked towards the building, brushing gently against my arm as he went. I followed him in silence, each of us religiously ignoring the other.

The holding cells were bare concrete, cold and uninviting. Yassen knew his way around and walked straight to the door at the end of the corridor. He opened it without knocking and I followed him, suppressing a gasp of revulsion as I saw what was inside.

David Marsh was lying on a metal cot, bloodied and bruised. Three of his fingers were broken. He let out a whimper and brought them to his chest when he saw Yassen. I almost gagged. Yassen had done that to him?

"You lied to us." Julia Rothman hissed from a corner. "You killed three men by lying. Don't make us sacrifice any more, tell us how to make the drug." Her voice was soft, but it dripped menace.

He raised a bruised and swollen face and spat at her shoes. She stepped back and nodded to Yassen. He moved closer to the cot and I flinched as he gripped one of Marsh's fingers.

It snapped quickly and he cried out in pain. Marsh curled up, gripping the finger in his unharmed hand. He began to talk and Yassen turned away. I couldn't tear my eyes from his face and he gave me a guilty, disgusted look before reclining against the wall.

He hadn't enjoyed it, not like Mrs. Rothman who was watching avidly. I felt myself relax a little and turned back to the group of people around the cot. I had once wanted to be a nurse and I found myself wanting to comfort the man lying curled on the cot.

But of course I couldn't and I eventually had to leave before I gave myself away. Yassen followed me out.

"You hate me now don't you?" he said quietly, his voice was full of hurt and I stopped.

"No, I don't hate you. You didn't want to do that, she made you." I said the words without thinking, and then realised that they were true, I didn't blame Yassen for anything. I started walking again and Yassen fell into step beside me.

"I hate torture, and he's not even very important, I don't like hurting people. Killing's different, it's over quickly, but torture's disgusting." He wasn't lying, his eyes were clear for once and they showed the hatred he felt for torture.

I didn't speak, I didn't have to. It was as if a barrier had been lifted, the silence between us was suddenly friendly, not strained. Yassen moved almost imperceptibly closer, his arm touching mine every now and then as we walked.

Somehow we ended up on the track, watching the students racing each other around it. Yassen hoisted himself up onto the fence at the side and stared out over the field, clearly lost in thought.

I pulled myself up next to him, only to slip off instantly. I stumbled and I automatically grabbed the nearest means of support, Yassen's leg. Caught unawares, he slipped and fell, pulling me down with him.

We lay winded for a few seconds, suddenly shy with each other. Than Yassen climbed to his feet and caught my hand, pulling me up too. I bumped against him and felt myself redden. Yassen's cheeks were also showing a little colour for the first time.

He let go of my hand and mumbled an excuse, heading off towards the gate. I watched him go, feeling my heart hammering painfully in my chest. What was going on? I could NOT be falling for an assassin.

But I was. I swore and turned away from Yassen, but glanced over my shoulder every few seconds until he was out of sight.

"Cut it out." I muttered, kneading my forehead. "Stop it." The students ran round again, bringing a brief burst of sound: running feet and panting. It was the panting that got me, I groaned and walked off after Yassen, my head spinning.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hiya, here it is, you find out what the evil killer mission is next chapter, once I've worked out what it is...any ideas? Anyway, i hope you enjoy this chapter...**

Yassen paced across his flat, trying to sort his thoughts into order. He knew that Kerryn was in her flat, he had seen her walk into the building, and it took all of his self control not to go and see her. The girl was annoying and obnoxious beyond belief, not to mention a spy, but he liked spending time with her. Damn.

He picked up a book at random and opened it, trying to escape from his own thoughts, his own life. It didn't work and he soon threw it down onto the sofa. He swore softly and resumed his pacing.

What was going on? He swore again and grabbed his coat. He needed to get out of the flat. He took the lift for once, he wasn't sure that he would be able to resist the temptation of seeing Kerryn.

Yassen walked slowly back to the compound, watching as the sky turned from blue to pink and finally to black. The track was floodlit and he jogged around it a couple of times, feeling his mind relax a little along with his body. He relished the work, feeling the soft grass beneath his trainers, the cold air catching in his throat.

A few students were grouped at the edge, watching him as he pounded round, slowly speeding up. Three of them joined him on the track, running alongside. He realised that they wanted him to talk to them, but continued ignoring them.

He finally ran out of energy, and walked into the compound to shower and change. When he came out, he found Julia Rothman waiting outside the door for him.

"A couple of students said you'd been out on the track, I guessed that you'd come here. Doctor Niko has managed to make the drug, it works; we can start planning the mission." Yassen stood still for a second, wondering what she meant, then a slow smile spread across his face as he remembered.

"Really? Excellent, who will be working on it?" he asked. She gave him a slightly quizzical look and he shrugged. "I just want to know who I'll be working with." He explained and she nodded and smiled.

"You, obviously, probably Nikolai, Daniel and Kerryn." She said thoughtfully. "Is that ok with you?" Yassen nodded, smiling. He wondered briefly why he was smiling; it would give Kerryn access to all the mission details. He considered refusing to work with her, but he knew that it would make her suspicious so he decided against it.

"Yes, that's good; it'll do Kerryn good to be involved in a major mission." Julia nodded.

"That's what I thought, keep an eye on her, make sure she understands what we're doing and what our aims are." It was Yassen's turn to nod. He would keep an eye on Kerryn, but not because he was ordered to. With a jolt, he realised why he had been smiling; it was because he wanted to work with her.

"I will." He said, she gave him a small, cold smile and walked away. Yassen smiled sarcastically at her back before turning away. He felt even worse now than he had before his run. Sighing, he walked out into the night and back to his flat.

He woke next morning with a headache. He felt cold, despite the warm weather outside, and he knew that he had to call on Kerryn before he went to the compound. That might be the cause of the headache.

He groaned before levering himself out of bed. He poured himself a bowl of cereal and ate slowly. He dressed quickly and picked up an apple and his Grach before leaving the flat. He walked slowly down to Kerryn's flat, feeling strangely apprehensive.

She opened the door as soon as he knocked and gave him a bright smile. His lips twitched before he could get them under control and Kerryn's grin widened.

"You've been chosen to help plan the new mission…look, can I come in quickly?" she stood aside and Yassen walked past, making sure that he didn't touch her.

"Ok, I don't like it, but the drug is being used to complete a mission, you'll find out what it is later. Anyway, you've been chosen to help plan it. Julia Rothman thought that it would be good for you to be involved in a major operation. And I've got to keep an eye on you apparently." Yassen knew that he didn't sound very upset and he looked away.

"What the hell? You were happy to let me _plan _the mission? But you told me to stay away from everything to do with the drug."

"It's not me," Yassen snapped, turning back. "It's Julia Rothman, if you think I was going to argue with her…" Kerryn looked away, her eyes suddenly full of pain. Yassen knew that he'd said the wrong thing, but couldn't make himself apologise.

"Fine then, I'll just tell Julia that I don't want to do it if that's what you want me to do."

"No," He said softly, touching her arm. "I didn't mean it like that. It'll be good to work with you. I just meant… I don't know what I meant. I don't want you to not work on it just because of me, but please don't try and sabotage it." He knew that she would, but it let him escape a little of the guilt if he told her not to.

"I won't. Do you want to work over there with me?" Yassen hesitated for a second before nodding. Kerryn smiled and grabbed her jacket. Yassen glanced at it, it was too warm outside to wear a jacket and he knew that she would have some way of contacting MI6 in there.

"A jacket in this weather? Leave it here." It was an order, not a request. He refused to let her spy on them when he knew she was probably recording everything they said. Kerryn glanced at him coldly but did as he told her for once.

Yassen smiled and opened the door for her. She reached out and ran a finger over his chest as she passed. His skin tingled and he flushed a little. She knew it and smiled smugly at him. He returned it sarcastically and pulled the door shut behind him.

**ta da! sorry, am a bit hyper this evening. hope you liked it, please review! D**


	9. Chapter 9

**hiya, sorry for the long gap between updates, i've had an exam every day this week, oh joy! but i have today off so here it is! And, to all those girls out there, I'm jealous of Kerryn too! lol. anyway, enjoy...**

I walked ahead of Yassen down the stairs, feeling his gaze on the back of my neck. I knew that he would be giving me threatening looks so I didn't look round. I had seen his cheeks redden when I touched his chest and knew that he would be more than a little uncomfortable.

I wished that he hadn't made me leave my jacket behind, I felt exposed and vulnerable without the gun sewn into the pocket. Yassen was right behind me as we walked down the stairs, but came up to walk beside me once we reached the open air. It was chilly, the sun wasn't fully up yet and the air was still cold.

We walked in silence to the compound. Julia Rothman and two other men were waiting in her office for us. One of the men raised an eyebrow when he saw me and Yassen come in together. I gave him a blank stare and he looked away.

"Ah, you're here then. Sit down." I sat. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Yassen turned a chair around and sat on it, leaning over the back and leaning on his arms. I swallowed and turned back to Julia.

"Ok, now only one of you knows the whole plan," She nodded at Yassen and I followed her gaze. It gave me an excuse to look at him. "But you'll all be told the whole story in a minute. But first, I need you to sign this, promising that you'll never reveal the details of this mission to anyone." She pushed four sheets of paper across the desk. Yassen signed his without even looking at it. I hesitated and signed mine quickly. The other two men followed suit and we passed the papers back.

"Excellent, anyway, we have recently got our hands on an experimental drug, it was being developed for the American government but we kidnapped the head of the scientific team and destroyed all their other notes and information. The drug is highly toxic, even with a small dosage; it can kill in minutes, if not seconds.

"The British know about this drug, and they know that we have the scientist. But we aren't going to be the ones launching it, the Americans are, or that's how it'll seem to the British. Air Force One is going to be at Exeter airport in three weeks. When it leaves, it will fly over the city; it will drop the drug and kill about twelve thousand people. It'll be the end of the British-American friendship forever."

I felt like my heart had stopped. Someone wanted twelve thousand people dead, just so we wouldn't be friends with America? I made sure that I wasn't showing any of the emotional turmoil in my face and glanced at Yassen. He looked indifferent, but his body was tense and I knew he was wrestling with strong emotions.

"Your role," Julia continued, "Is to get the drug on board the plane and set up a way of releasing it." Yassen nodded and stood up, I copied him. The other two did the same and we trooped out of the room. Yassen was leading, out of the compound, down some concrete steps and into an underground bunker. A bare bulb flickered gently on the end of its wire.

The room was full of shelves of files, SCORPIA had been busy. Yassen took a torch from the shelf next to the door and we went further in. There was another door at the far end of the corridor and Yassen opened it. A gust of cold air rushed to meet us and I shivered a little.

"This is where we'll be working from." Yassen said, flicking on the light. It looked like one of those control rooms from those war movies you see on TV sometimes, with the big table in the middle and maps on the walls.

"Is that Exeter?" one of the men asked. He had a Russian accent, like Yassen.

"Yes. Oh yes, Nikolai, Daniel, this is Kerryn, she's only just arrived. Kerryn, this is Nikolai, and Daniel." He gestured to each of them and I gave a small smile. They gave small smiles back, and we all turned to the table and set to work.

Somehow I was paired with Yassen working out how to get to the plane. The other two were devising a way of releasing the drug once the plane was in the air. Yassen was examining a map on the wall, writing down measurements on a piece of paper. I was sat at the table, looking through a book of notes on Exeter airport.

There were pictures and measurements and I pointed them out to Yassen, he copied them down and handed them to Daniel.

"What are you planning?" he whispered as he walked back past me. I got up and followed him, carrying the book still. If the other two looked, it would just look like I was checking something.

"Nothing, yet." I whispered.

"Just remember what I said about keeping on my good side." He countered.

"I'm not going to get on your bad side, everyone else's, but not yours." I turned away and sat back down at the table. Yassen glared at me before turning back to the map on the wall. I grinned and turned my attention back to the book.

I couldn't believe that they were going to try and kill most of Exeter. Why was Air Force One there of all places? I sighed and gazed aimlessly at the book. I couldn't let it happen but I couldn't see how to stop it. I tried to plan a way to sabotage it, but Yassen kept interrupting my train of thought. He knew what I was doing and seemed to be determined to stop me and I eventually gave up until I got back to my flat.

I don't know how long we were down there; there were no windows and no clocks. When we came out it was well past midday and the sun was high in the sky, but the shadows were beginning to lengthen. We were supposed to report to Julia Rothman, but she wasn't in her office. Me, Daniel and Nikolai followed Yassen as he wandered around looking for her. Eventually a student told us that she had left about an hour after we had started work.

"There's no point in waiting for her to come back, so we'll report to her tomorrow morning. Be here at nine." Yassen said before turning on his heel and walking towards the changing rooms. The other two men walked the other way, deep in conversation. I hesitated for a second, then ran after Yassen.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I'm going to get changed and then go for a run on the track." He replied.

"Do you mind if I join you? I don't have anything else to do." Yassen glanced at me questioningly, and then nodded.

"I guess so." He said. "I'll meet you out here in ten minutes." He walked into the men's changing room and I went into the women's. There was a locker on the far side with my name on it, with a silver scorpion sticker beside it. I opened it and saw a key and a tracksuit and a pair of shorts folded neatly against the sides.

I changed quickly into the t-shirt and shorts before walking out to meet Yassen. He was leaning against the wall, wearing a tight fitting top that showed his muscular chest perfectly. I blushed a little and forced myself to look away.

"Oh finally! How long does it take to get changed?" he exclaimed. I smiled sarcastically and he laughed. We walked out to the track and started running. We exchanged awkward glances when we passed the fence and sped up a little.

I had to stop after three laps, but Yassen kept going for three more before stopping and flopping down onto the grass beside me.

"You gave up." He accused, panting. I shrugged.

"I'm not a fit as you are." I explained defiantly. He grinned and nodded sarcastically.

"Yeah right, couldn't compete could you?" I shoved him and got to my feet, though a little unsteadily. He groaned and held out a hand. I took it and heaved him to his feet, letting go quickly. I looked away and Yassen did the same. We stood for a few seconds in uncomfortable silence before turning and walking slowly towards the compound.

I showered and quickly dressed again, getting out of the changing room before Yassen this time. I waited until he came out, and then we wordlessly left and headed back to out flats.

We paused outside my door and Yassen looked me in the eye for the first time that day.

"You have an eyelash." He said quietly.

"I have lots of them." I replied, rubbing my cheek. "Is it gone?" he shook his head and I tried again. "Now is it gone?" another shake. I reached up to rub my face again, but he beat me to it, gently pulling it off of my skin.

"I got it." He said, his hand still on my cheek. He leant in a bit, his face suddenly very close to mine. Slowly and extremely gently, he pressed his lips to mine.

** Hate her hate her hate her! sorry, just had to get that in! hope you enjoyed it! R&R please! anyway, back to revision...fun...**


	10. Chapter 10

Yassen pulled back almost instantly, his heart hammering painfully against his ribs and his breath coming in short, ragged gasps. He looked down at Kerryn who was smiling at him. His heart beat faster still, wanting more, but his mind was screaming at him to get away from Kerryn NOW!

She was watching him curiously now, her brow slightly creased. She looked like she knew what was going through Yassen's head.

Finally he sighed and dropped his hand from where it rested on her cheek. His mind had won. He turned away slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on Kerryn's face, trying to explain with his eyes why he was doing this. He started up the stairs to his flat.

Kerryn spoke, saying his name softly, just once. He swayed, almost turning, but gripped the banister tightly and forced himself to keep going up. He stumbled through the door of his flat, realising for the first time that he was trembling. Why had he done that? It was beyond stupid, she was a spy for God's sake! And yet… he knew that she wasn't like any girl he'd ever met. He was an assassin, he couldn't fall for her, he didn't do that sort of thing. He sighed again, who was he kidding?

He sat down, only to stand up a few seconds later and start pacing up and down. It was too dangerous; SCORPIA forbade any and all relationships between their agents. And if they found out she was a spy, he'd be under suspicion too if anyone thought they were more than just colleagues or friends. He swore, realising for the first time in the four years he had been working for them, exactly how much he had given up to become SCORPIA's top assassin.

He paused, hearing a soft knock on the door. He knew it was Kerryn. Yassen hesitated for a few seconds before walking over and opening the door a crack.

"Can I come in?" she asked quietly. He nodded and stood aside for her to pass. She walked straight past him and into the sitting room. Yassen shut the door and followed. "What's going on? You kiss me, and then practically run off! What's going on?" she said. Her voice was calm and quiet, Yassen knew that she knew why he'd done it, but wanted to hear him say it.

"I…I, uh…I made a mistake. I shouldn't have kissed you; it's too dangerous for both of us and you're…" His voice tailed off, he didn't want to say the words that were lining up to jump out of his mouth.

"The enemy. I'm the enemy, right?" she snapped, her voice trembling a little with emotion. Yassen half-shrugged, he hadn't meant that. He glanced at her, and then looked away quickly, not wanting to meet her stony gaze.

"What do we do now then?" Kerryn asked quietly. Yassen winced slightly at the tremble in her voice; he had put that there.

"I don't know." He said, shrugging again. He still didn't look at her, couldn't bring himself to look into eyes that he knew would be filled with tears. Kerryn remained silent and, eventually, he couldn't stand it any longer. "It's just too dangerous!" he burst out, looking her in the eye. "You of all people should know that. It's not that I don't want… if we got caught they'd find out about you, and kill you, and then they'd kill me, just because I was with you." Kerryn nodded, understanding in her eyes. Somehow that made it worse and Yassen had to look away again.

"So, are we still going to be working with each other?" she asked. Yassen hesitated and she continued. "It'll be better if we don't act like anything's wrong, otherwise they'll get suspicious." Yassen nodded and she gave him a small smile. They didn't speak again and Kerryn left a few minutes later.

Yassen watched her go, and then resumed his pacing. The talk hadn't made him feel any better, and now his mind was wandering and he found himself reliving the kiss over and over. He tried to block it out, to forget how soft her mouth had been against his, how she had tasted slightly of apples, how his heart had leapt. He swore, it was like trying to hold back a tsunami using a pebble: totally impossible.

He continued pacing as the sky outside darkened, until eventually exhaustion forced him into bed, though it was several hours before he slept. He slept lightly, for about five hours. He woke just as the sky was paling and dressed quickly. He left the flat and went for a walk in the semi-darkness. He didn't pay any attention to where he was going but somehow ended up at the compound. He considered going in, there were lights on in many of the rooms, but decided against it and turned away, walking back to his flat.

He stopped outside the building; Kerryn was walking down, looking out into the sunrise. He waited for her, and she gave him a small, hesitant smile as she saw him there. He smiled back and the silence dropped a couple of notches of tension. They walked slowly to the compound, not talking.

Daniel and Nikolai were standing outside the bunker, comparing diagrams and arguing in whispers. They fell silent as the two of them approached and watched as Yassen unlocked the door. He guided Kerryn through the maze of shelves to the planning room where they instantly started work.

Yassen continued looking at the large maps on the wall, measuring and writing notes. He started a little, dropping his hand to the gun in the holster at his hip. But it was only Kerryn, peering curiously over his shoulder.

"So what's the plan so far then?" she asked, moving around to stand next to him. He was uncomfortably aware of the closeness of her body and took a small step to the side, moving his arm away from hers.

"There are a few holes in the fence at the back, no one really goes there and it's been repaired badly. Air Force One will be there overnight so we go through at night and attach the stuff. Air Force One takes off the next morning, Daniel activates whatever he's making and we go home." Yassen saw a flicker of shock and revulsion cross Kerryn's face, to be replaced with a sort of hopeful thoughtfulness.

"It's always under guard, the plane I mean, we won't be able to get close without being seen, and I doubt that the American army would just sit there while we put whatever we're going to put on the plane, on the plane." Yassen smiled a little and raised an eyebrow. Kerryn sighed.

"American army uniforms, we have hundreds of them. We can just dress up and pretend to be the relief for the guards, no hitches. It's simple." Yassen could see annoyance in Kerryn's eyes. The simplicity of the plan would make it harder to ruin, that's why he'd made it so simple.

"You've thought of everything." She said bitterly and he grinned.

"I try." He said with sarcastic grace. She shot him a warning, but wary look and went back to the table. Yassen turned back, only to be interrupted a few seconds later by Nikolai and Daniel entering the room, each carrying rolls of paper under each arm.

"What have you got?" he asked, turning to the table and pulling out a chair. His heart beat a little faster, though any excitement he was feeling didn't show on his face. The two other men shared a nervous glance, they were relatively low ranking and weren't used to working with assassins. They took a simultaneous breath and began.

"The device is simple," Daniel said hesitantly. "It's put inside the bodywork and wings of the plane, there have to be lots of them so we get maximum area coverage. Then they're carried out through the metal so they can be seen and activated once they're outside." Yassen nodded thoughtfully.

"It sounds like it'll work. But won't they be found?" Nikolai stepped forward.

"No, they'll be in the struts, they'll be almost invisible. Plus we'll make the openings along the joins that are already there, they won't notice anything different unless they go over the whole plane with a fine tooth comb." Yassen sat back in his chair, satisfied. He gave a small smile and the two men seemed to slump with relief at the acceptance of their idea.

"It sounds good. We'll report to Julia tomorrow, she's still not back, and see what she thinks of it." Yassen stood up and quickly outlined his side of the plan. They decided that they'd done all they could for that day and left each other, going their own ways.


	11. Chapter 11

**Heya, i know, very irregular updates, nothing for a week or so, then two almost at once! I hope you like this, there'll be some action soon, promise! oh, an also, i think that you may be wondering about why it's exeter, simple: i know exeter! so it'll be more realistic! anyway... D thanks to all my reviewers by the way! you guys are great!  
**

I didn't walk back to the flat, just wandered around the compound. It was quiet, the twenty or so students were in lessons and the corridors were pretty much deserted. My thoughts drifted to the plan and I started to form a plan to sabotage it.

I continued walking while I was planning and suddenly found myself faced by a solid steel door with two guards standing on either side, watching me curiously. I hesitated, and then walked forward; this was the doorway to the cells and I wanted to ask David Marsh some questions about his drug. The guards didn't challenge me, I was wearing the silver scorpion pin of an assassin and they had been ordered to respect it.

I walked through, my senses suddenly flooded. The air smelt of blood, the floor was spotlessly clean, but there were long smears of black, dried blood on the walls which hadn't been cleared. In the distance there were muffled sobs and shuddering whimpers which rebounded through the concrete corridors, being amplified and distorted. I retched, almost throwing up at the combined effect.

Finally I straightened and walked forward again. Marsh's door was ajar; he was chained to the far wall. I stepped inside and he looked at me with dull eyes.

"What do you want?" he rasped, "I gave you lot the right method last time." I shrugged and, glancing quickly up and down the corridor, shut the door.

"I know you did, that's why I'm here." I said softly, cajolingly. I knew that I mustn't tell him I was with MI6, but it took me a few seconds to work out how to persuade him to tell me what I wanted to know. "That's why I'm here. To find out if there's any way that MI6 or someone could sabotage the drug."

He squinted at me through bruised and swollen eyes before shaking his head.

"There's nothing that can destroy it, unless it's burned, but I doubt that they'd be able to get past you, evaporate the liquid, and then burn it without being seen." My heart sank but I didn't let it show on my face.

"What about if they add water, would that stop it from working?" He shook his head again.

"It would dilute it, but wouldn't stop it working. The deaths would take longer of course, but the outcome would be the same, there's no antidote for it." A slight note of pride crept into his voice, which was understandable. Under other circumstances I might have congratulated him on the ingeniousness of his idea. But now I just rose from my crouch and left the room, my heart lower than ever.

Yassen was standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for me. I almost walked into him.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed, turning away.

"I followed you, I knew you'd go to see Marsh." I swore softly, he seemed to know me better than I knew myself. "So, have you realised that you can't ruin the drug itself yet?" I nodded bitterly, realising that he'd known all along.

"You knew." I muttered. He shrugged carelessly.

"I wanted to see how long it would take before you worked it out. No way of destroying it and no antidote. You're stuck now aren't you?" he said quietly. Although he was officially my enemy, he seemed to care about me, and the kiss… No, I wasn't going to bring that up again.

"It's a setback. I'll work something out." He laughed at that.

"You don't give up do you?"

"No, and I won't just because you ask me to." I snapped. Yassen laughed and backed away, holding up his hands.

"I wasn't going to. It wouldn't be any fun unless I had to stop you from ruining the plan." I rolled my eyes, but smiled inside, it didn't sound like he was planning to give me away.

"You just help me, that would be even more of a challenge." I suggested. Yassen raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think so. I quite like my life, and I don't want to be killed." I shrugged.

"Suit yourself." I smiled at him quickly before walking away. I went straight back to the flat, my heart pounding all the way. It was only about five, but I was suddenly feeling exhausted, it was more of a disappointment than I'd let on that I couldn't make the drug useless, so I had to sabotage the devices themselves, or get all four of us caught. No, I wasn't going to let Yassen get caught, not on purpose anyway. So that just left the devices themselves. Damn.

I made myself a sandwich and ate it slowly, looking out at the sunset. I heard footsteps outside and somehow knew it was Yassen.

I turned on the lamp at the end of the sofa and opened one of the books that Mrs. Jones had given me when we'd met. It was about the drug, but I couldn't get into it at all, I'd lost interest by now.

Finally, at about half past nine, I gave up trying to read and went to bed. I slept fitfully; the night was filled with troubled dreams.

I felt no better in the morning, and I now had to go and report to Julia Rothman with Yassen and the others. God, I could hardly remember their names; I had been so caught up by Yassen. I sighed and dragged myself out of the bed, stumbling a little as I made my way to the bathroom for a shower.

Ten minutes later I stepped out and got dressed. I picked up an apple from the fruit bowl on the table and perched on the chair to eat it. There was a knock at the door and I opened it to admit Yassen. He glanced uneasily at the apple in my hand and then looked away.

"We've got to go early; Julia wants us there by nine. It's twenty to." He added, seeing me begin to turn to look at the clock on the wall.

"Ok, give me a second." I said, running into my bedroom and grabbing my jacket. Yassen glared at me when I came out with it.

"Leave the jacket again, I don't trust you." He ordered. I sighed and, rolling my eyes, dropped the jacket on the sofa.

"Are you happy now?" I asked sarcastically. He nodded and we left. The morning was unusually cold and I shivered a little, I wished that I had a normal jacket that Yassen would trust me to wear. Almost as soon as I thought that, Yassen slipped his off his shoulders.

"You looked cold." He explained uncomfortably as he handed it to me.

"Thanks." I said, smiling. He shrugged and muttered something about it being no problem. We walked the rest of the way in silence.

"You're early!" Julia exclaimed as we walked into her office. "Sit down, please, how have you been getting on? Do you think you're ready?" Yassen nodded and began to talk about how we'd been getting on. I remained silent, conscious of Julia's eyes on me. I wondered briefly why, then I realised, I was still wearing Yassen's jacket, it was his favourite and he wore it often, she obviously recognised it.

She seemed to be about to say something about it when Daniel and Nikolai arrived. Daniel was carrying what looked like a small box, about ten centimetres wide by twenty long, with a sharp spike protruding from the front. Julia's eyes were drawn by it and I relaxed, shooting a relieved look at Yassen who look as if he knew the danger we had been in. I quickly slipped the jacket off my shoulders and tossed it to him.

"Sit down, and tell me all about your plans to make our client's dream reality." The other two men did as they were told and Yassen stood up and began talking.

He outlined our side of the plan, how to get to the plane, and then sat down again while Daniel and Nikolai explained about the device which was now lying on Julia's desk. It was basically just a container with a funnel on (the spike) which pokes out through the bodywork of the plane and releases the drug a bit at a time.

It was so bloody simple that it was going to be almost impossible to get away with ruining it. I glanced at Yassen who was listening intently. It was hard to tell if he liked the idea or not, his face was an inscrutable again. But he shot me a look which was slightly apologetic and I realised that he didn't want me to fail. He didn't want to kill those people any more than I did.

**I hope you enjoyed it! Jusmine, that was for you! lol, please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ok, update number two today, i need to get out more... lol, anyway i hope you enjoy this chapter, i officially HATE Kerryn, lol sorry, you'll understand why by the end of this chapter..if you're female at least... anyway, enjoy!**

Yassen waited tensely. His breath caught in his throat as he looked at Julia, he wanted to know that she was happy with the plan so they could finally get away from the compound. He hated it here; he was already feeling cramped and bored. He wanted a mission, and he should be going on one soon, if Julia was happy with the way they'd worked so far.

Finally she nodded. Yassen let out a barely concealed sigh of relief and smiled. He couldn't help glancing at Kerryn again, she was smiling too, but it was fixed and distant.

"It's fantastic." Julia said, "Yassen, would you like all of them to accompany you when you go down there?"

"I don't know, it depends on how many guards are posted around the plane. Do you know? We haven't done that part yet." He added defensively. She shrugged.

"I don't know, but I doubt that they'll think that it's a high risk area, so maybe two or three, no more than four, I should think."

"Ok, would you like me to take some other agents, or these two?" he gestured towards Daniel and Nikolai.

"Get the instructions off of them, but take some other agents instead. And Kerryn, will you be going with them?" She asked suddenly.

"We haven't really discussed it, but I'd like to see how it ends, if that's ok with Yassen." He met her eyes and saw the tiny plea in them.

"I'd be happier knowing that she's got my back. If it's ok with you, Julia, I'd like her to come with us." The older woman nodded and smiled. Yassen saw Kerryn's face break into a huge grin and had to suppress a smile himself.

"Ok, so you have two weeks. Make sure that you know exactly how to fit the devices onto the plane."

"We will. I'll choose the agents to come with us if that's ok with you." Julia nodded, but she was already immersed in a report and the four of them left without another word.

Yassen glanced at Kerryn, only to find her eyes fixed on Daniel. She looked a little perplexed and Yassen followed her gaze. He instantly moved over to stand behind Daniel because the man was on the point of collapse. He clearly hadn't been sleeping and fear and worry had drawn his face. Yassen caught him as he fell and, with Nikolai's help, lowered him to the ground. His eyes were closed, but flickered restlessly beneath their lids, and his breaths came in short, ragged gasps.

Nikolai was calling his name, gripping his hand tightly, while Yassen took his pulse; he could scarcely feel it.

"We have to get him to the doctor." He said, nudging Nikolai's shoulder. The older man looked at him blankly and he repeated it, gripping Daniel's legs and lifting them. "Kerryn, go on ahead, tell them we're coming." He rasped and couldn't resist watching as she ran off.

Nikolai had caught Daniel under his arms and between them they lifted him and shuffled quickly along the corridor. Kerryn was waiting at the door to the small, but fully equipped hospital building. They were ushered out, though Nikolai managed to plead his way back in again.

"Will he be ok?" Kerryn asked. Yassen shrugged, looking down at her.

"I think so, he's just overworked. We'll still be able to go and do the mission."

"Great." She said. Yassen smiled at the sarcasm in her voice. "I can't wait." Yassen laughed and stood up. "Where are you going?" she asked suddenly, sitting forward and looking up at him worriedly. He raised an eyebrow and Kerryn blushed and looked away.

"Well, we can't help here, so I'm going to go and choose the other agents to come with us. You can come to if you want; they have to get on with both of us." She smiled and stood up.

"Ok, I guess…if you insist…" her voice trailed off as she trailed behind Yassen. He looked back every now and then, biting his lip. Finally he stopped and turned.

"Come with me." He said quietly, furtively. He ducked off the path and into and thick undergrowth. A few minutes, and several bramble attacks, later they come to a stop in a small hollow around the trunk of a low-branched tree.

"I'll get a pair of new agents, that have only just finished training." He said. Kerryn waited expectantly. Yassen sighed and leant a little closer. "I'm going to help you." He whispered, scarcely daring to believe what he'd just said. Kerryn's eyes widened but she didn't say anything. "I don't know how, but we'll work something out." He gave a small smile and moved at a crouching run towards the path again.

Kerryn was right behind him when they emerged and fell into step beside him as they walked down the path. They were suddenly uncomfortable with each other and shot each other curious glances.

Yassen was deep in thought, he knew that Kerryn liked him as more than a friend, and didn't have any idea how to react to it. It was just too dangerous… but he'd said that over and over, and it sounded less convincing every time. He sighed and felt Kerryn touch his arm. He didn't pull away.

The walk to the building where the new agents stayed seemed to pass all too quickly, Kerryn's hand remained on his arm until they were almost through the door.

"Form up!" Yassen barked, striding to the centre of the room. All around him there was a sudden scuffle and frantic scrabbling as they got themselves into two straight lines between the beds. Finally there was silence. "I'm doing a mission in two weeks, you don't need to know what it is, but we need two or three people to play dress up for us. Any volunteers?"

Every hand in the room went up. Yassen smiled.

"It'll be pretty dangerous; we're going to be impersonating American soldiers. What?" the last bit was to Kerryn who had come over and was whispering in his ear.

"Get four, then we'll have enough, and still be able to do what we want." Yassen nodded and turned back to the lines of eager faces.

"Ok, change of plan, we'll take four of you." The enthusiasm doubled. Yassen sighed and looked at Kerryn for help, he hated dealing with recruits. She stepped forward and addressed the room.

"Is there another room anywhere? We'll do interviews and see who gets on with us best and who will work well with us." An agent stepped forward and led them to a small room just off the main dormitory room.

"Is this ok, ma'am?" he asked. Kerryn nodded and he smiled. As soon as his back was turned she rolled her eyes at Yassen who gave a snort of laughter.

"Interviews? We'll be stuck here for the whole of eternity, now!" he hissed.

"You've got a better idea then?" Kerryn retorted. Yassen opened his mouth to argue before admitting defeat and pulling up a chair.

"Let's get it over with then." He said brusquely. Kerryn stuck her tongue out at him and called the first one in. Yassen, very cleverly, perfected the art of sleeping with his eyes open over the next hour. But by the end, Kerryn had a list of names with four circled in red.

"These were the worst I saw, the most likely to make mistakes or to be shoddy, or miss something. Is that ok?" she whispered in his ear.

"Yeah, that's great." He replied, climbing back up to consciousness. Kerryn sighed impatiently and heaved him to his feet. "There was no need for that." Yassen said indignantly.

"There bloody well was, you were half asleep. I think you _were_ asleep during the interviews!" Yassen shrugged and turned away, laughing.

"Two weeks. Do you think you can put up with this for another two weeks?" he said quietly. Kerryn nodded. "You'll be going once it's over, I suppose." He whispered, feeling a sudden tide of emotion sweep through him. Kerryn nodded and he saw a single tear slide slowly down her cheek. He reached out and wiped it away with his sleeve.

"You don't have to." He said. She gave a little hiccup of laughter.

"That's like saying I don't have to breathe. I'll go once I've done it, it'll be safer, you're SCORPIA's golden boy, they won't hurt you, but they don't need me and they won't miss me."

"I'll miss you." Yassen said softly. Kerryn smiled at him.

"Let's go, I want to go to bed."

"You're tired?" Yassen asked incredulously. Kerryn shook her head, shooting him a hopeless look when he paused, puzzled. He opened his mouth, and then looked at Kerryn and caught her eye. "Oh." She gave a small laugh and caught his hand, pulling him back to her flat.

**See? i hate her. anyway, sorry, bit obsessive there, hope you liked it, please review...in fact review even if you didn't like it! D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi, i'm on a bit of an update spree at the moment! lol, anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy...**

I awoke with the most wonderful feeling of déjà vu ever. Light was filtering through the blind, throwing golden shafts of sunlight on the wall, but I hardly noticed.

I rolled over and looked at Yassen. His eyes flickered open and he smiled at me.

"Morning." He whispered.

"Morning," I replied, pressing myself against his chest. His hand come up and stroked my hair softly while the other drew me closer. We lay in silence for a while, and then Yassen suddenly sat bolt upright.

"What's the time?" he asked hoarsely. I twisted in his arms and looked at the clock.

"It's ten to nine. Shit!" we both leapt out of bed, we were going to be late for the meeting I'd arranged between Julia Rothman, us, and the agents we had chosen.

Yassen showered quickly and then ate breakfast, while I did it in reverse, eating and then washing. We raced to the compound and managed to get there only a couple of minutes late.

"Sorry we're late; I had to wait for Kerryn to get out of bed: she overslept." Yassen said smoothly as we walked into the office. His voice faltered on the last word and he fell silent. I walked into the room behind him and kept my eyes on the floor until I was settled into my chair, only then did I look up and see a huge, scarred giant of a man leering at me from the far side of the desk. Julia Rothman, sitting at his side, was dwarfed by his sheer bulk.

"We haven't met, I'm Levi Kroll." The man held out his hand and I took it gingerly. I could feel Yassen's eyes on me, warning me to be careful. I didn't need it; this man was more evil than anything I'd ever met. "I hear that you've been working with Yassen, he's one of our best assassins."

"I heard that he is the best." I said quietly. Kroll looked surprised for a second, and then laughed and sat down again.

"For now, but we're always looking out for fresh talent." The threat in his voice was unmistakable and I shifted a little so I was between Kroll and Yassen. "Anyway, you chose these men, yes?" I glanced around, noticing the line of men standing against the wall.

"Yes, I did." I said stubbornly, I could hear the next words already and sure enough, they came quickly.

"Why did you choose these men? They were the bottom in most classes." I shrugged.

"We only need them to pretend to be guarding the plane, and they got on with us the best out of all of them. I only wanted people who'd work well with us." Kroll looked as if he was about to protest, but Julia Rothman cut in smoothly.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, they might reveal hidden talents under pressure."

"They also might screw up and get shot under pressure." Kroll snapped. Yassen shifted behind me, casually slipping his hand into his pocket. Kroll saw but didn't challenge it, there was regret and shame in his eyes.

"That was out of order. Yassen chose them and so they'll do fine, he hasn't been wrong yet. You can all go now." Julia seemed anxious to get us out of the room. It wasn't any wonder, the tension was almost solid.

We filed out, Yassen leading the way. The four agents peeled off and went back to their cabin and I ran to catch up with Yassen. I caught his hand for a second, but let go quickly, there were so many cameras around that it was impossible to tell if you were being watched.

"What's up with Kroll?" I asked after a few minutes silence. Yassen gave a short laugh.

"Everything, he's hated me since I arrived. I think that he thinks I stole the glory from his favourite trainee in my class. He hand picked him and he just ended in Intel. Kroll was furious." He stopped talking suddenly, realising what he'd just said. "Oh, bugger, I didn't mean it like that. In SCORPIA, Intel's about as low as you can get, but in MI6 it's the highest, sorry." I shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. It's not like I'm in love with Intel myself, it boring mostly. This is my favourite mission." I said, grinning up at him.

"Why would that be then?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"Oh, just the thrill of meeting Mr. Kroll." I replied. He gasped and huffed. "I didn't mean it. It's you, I promise." He smiled again then, and put an arm around my shoulders. I shrugged it off with a warning look at the cameras. He sighed and dropped his arm.

"God, this place is like Big Brother." He muttered, I laughed and shrugged.

"You should see MI6; there are cameras on every inch of the walls: it's ridiculous." Yassen laughed and we lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"Do you think it's safe?" he whispered almost ten minutes later. We were standing on the far side of the training track, in a hedge.

"Yeah, I think it might be safe here." I whispered back.

"Good." He said and pulled me into a kiss. "I've wanted to do that all morning." He said when he pulled back; I smiled and kissed his cheek.

"You're hopeless." I said quietly.

"And proud of it, don't forget that." He grinned, I rolled my eyes and he gave me another kiss. "Come on then, we better get back out where people know where we are, before they get suspicious." I nodded and gave him one last hug before we ducked back into the open field.

We split up when we reached the compound; I went back to the flat while Yassen went to go over some of the plans. I walked slowly, going through my memories with each step.

When I finally got back to my flat, I heard a faint bleeping noise. A few minutes of searching revealed that it was from my mobile in the pocket of my jacket. I had a message from MI6.

"_Are you healthy? What's going on? What's the situation with Marsh? Contact as soon as you get this._" Four sentences, three questions, probably in reverse order of importance, I sighed.

"_Am fine. Huge mission planned for drug: kill Exeter. Have help, will stop." _That was good enough, it gave them the basic idea, I sent it and received a reply almost at once.

"_Help?"_ I almost laughed, these were the best of the best, well, theoretically at least, and you needed a B or above in English to get in, and here they were, doing one word sentences! Still, I had to write a reply so I did.

"_Help."_ Once it had sent, I turned the phone off and slumped on the sofa. After a few minutes, I drifted off to sleep.

"Kerryn. Kerryn, let me in." Yassen's voice was low and urgent though the door, there was a certain thickness about it that I couldn't put my finger on until I pulled the door open and gasped. His face was bloody, his hair ruffled and his eye was already starting to swell.

"What happened?" I asked, outraged. Yassen shook his head and walked further into the flat. I shut and locked the door before following. "What happened?" I repeated.

"Kroll." He spat the word with as much venom as he could muster. I gasped and bit my lip. I didn't press him for specific details; he'd tell me when he wanted to. In the meantime, I tried to make myself useful, fetching a cloth to stem the blood pulsing strongly from his nose and a small ice-pack for his eye.

"He had suspicions about me and you; he tried to get me to tell him what he wanted to know. Julia stopped him. I think she saved my life." Despite everything, I felt a rush of affection towards Julia Rothman. "I didn't tell him anything, but I think it's only a matter of time." He spat blood and swore. His bleeding had stopped and, when I put my arms around his shoulders he pulled me closer and held me while I cried.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi, it's me again! Missed me? lol, probably not, here the next chapter, hope you enjoy it :) (if you do, could you please review?)**

Yassen woke at four and slid out of the bed without disturbing Kerryn. He had done this every morning for almost two weeks, leaving Kerryn's room before there was any risk of him being seen doing so. He dressed quietly and left, taking one last look at Kerryn's sleeping form before shutting the door behind him.

He padded up the stairs in the dark to his own flat and opened the door. He flicked on the light and, having walked into his room, began searching for his small suitcase. They were leaving for Devon later that morning, Kerryn was already packed, he had helped her last night, but he still had to pack.

They were staying for three days, so he packed clothes enough to last, as well as the American army uniform which was tucked away at the bottom of the case. It was almost seven by the time he'd finished finding and packing everything he'd need, including weapons.

He could feel the knot of nervous excitement in the pit of his stomach, just like he always had before a mission, but this time it was more nervous than excitement. He wouldn't admit it to Kerryn, but he was worried about helping her, his life would be on the line if they were found out. He sighed and pushed the thoughts away, taking deep, steadying breaths.

Two hours. It seemed like only yesterday that it had been two weeks. And in three days he'd have to say goodbye to Kerryn. He groaned and held his head in his hands. There was a soft knock on the door and he answered it instantly, only Kerryn knocked like that, everyone else pounded on it.

"Hi." She said, glancing around the flat.

"I was just packing." Yassen explained, turning his eyes to the mess too. He shrugged. "It'll be fine." He said lightly and heard Kerryn laugh.

"I'm sure it will." She said quietly. He could hear the sadness in her voice and wished they had met under different circumstances. Maybe they could have stayed together if they had. But it wouldn't help by dwelling on it and he put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. She smiled weakly and reached up, gently stroking the faded bruise on his cheek. He caught hold of her wrist and kissed it gently before turning away and picking up his suitcase.

"You ready to go?" He asked, taking her hand. She nodded and they left the flat, letting go of the other's hand as they passed through the door. They picked up Kerryn's case and Yassen carried them out of the door to the car, a black Porsche 911. He heard Kerryn gasp and grinned.

"You like it?" he asked. She nodded and moved forward breathlessly. Yassen laughed and opened the small boot, it was a tight squeeze, but he managed to fit both cases in. "It's not the most practical car ever, but I like it. Come on, we'd better go and meet Julia before we go, else she'll be livid." They locked the car and walked slowly to the compound in silence. Julia was standing in the doorway of her office, waiting for them.

"You're leaving today?" She asked anxiously and seemed to relax when Yassen nodded wearily.

"Yes, straight after this." He said. She smiled and gestured for them to sit down, Kerryn did, Yassen remained standing. Julia gave him a sharp look, which he ignored, before continuing.

"Excellent, now, this is the address where the devices are being made, there are twenty of them, I believe, already containing the drug. Pick them up tomorrow." Yassen nodded and took the paper she was holding out. He glanced at it before slipping it into his pocket. "You're sure you know what you have to do? Do you have the tools?" Yassen rolled his eyes a little and repeated what he'd already told her three times.

"We know exactly what we have to do, and how to do it. We don't have the tools yet, but we'll be getting them from the same place that made the devices." She smiled, reassured and sat back in her chair.

"In that case, I suppose that I only have to wish you all good luck, and I hope you all come back safe." She looked down at a folder in a clear dismissal and Yassen led the way out of the room.

"Where are the four others? They won't fit in the car." Kerryn asked. Yassen smiled and rolled his eyes.

"They'll meet us down there tomorrow; we have to take a look around first and make any last minute adjustments to the plan. We've talked about that before, you know." He reminded her. She blushed and pushed his arm.

"I knew that." She said quickly and he laughed.

"Liar." He said softly. They walked slowly back to the flats and got into the car. Yassen started the engine and relaxed as it roared into life. Kerryn let out a little squeak of excitement and he laughed as he pulled away. They moved slowly at first, crawling through the rush hour traffic at a pitifully slow pace. But once they got to the motorway they had more room and the Porsche pulled smoothly away from the other cars.

They drove solidly for the next three hours, not stopping until they reached the right junction. They talked a little, but for the most part, Yassen was concentrating on keeping the car under control.

"Where do we have to go now?" Kerryn asked as they pulled off the motorway.

"We have a pair of flats by the quay. It's well signposted, so I think we'll be fine. I think." He repeated quietly. Kerryn laughed,

"You don't exactly inspire me with confidence by saying that, you know."

"I know. But it's the truth, I've never been here before, well, not to stay at least. I don't know where anything is except the airport."

"Well that's the important bit then. So long as you know where the airport is we'll be fine." She said sarcastically. He laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. They were relishing in the freedom of being away from SCORPIA, with no cameras and no people eager for advancement, and prepared to destroy other lives to get it.

It took almost another hour, but they eventually pulled up out side the address they'd been given and got out of the car. Yassen's legs were weak after sitting for so long and he stumbled a little as he walked up the stairs to the flat's they'd been allotted.

"Whose idea was stairs? I want to kill them." He muttered viciously.

"I think they're already dead, sorry." He swore and continued staggering up them. Their flats were on the top floor, above the level of the surrounding buildings and fronted with bullet proof glass. SCORPIA owned them and weren't taking any risks where the safety of their assassins was concerned.

Kerryn was carrying the cases now and she dumped them both in her flat, they both knew that Yassen's wouldn't be used. Yassen straightened up, working the kinks out of his body.

"Want to go for a walk?" he asked, looking out the window at the calm waters of the canal. In answer, Kerryn took her coat from her suitcase and took Yassen's hand. He smiled and they walked slowly out into the warm afternoon.

They wandered for almost a mile, finally finding a pub set at the side of the canal. They bought a basket of chips and ate them on the deck looking out over the water. It was dusk by the time the two of them got back to Kerryn's flat. A group of people in kayaks were gathered around the pontoon opposite, listening to an instructor. Kerryn walked over and sat on the wall around the quay, listening to the instructor.

"You paddle?" Yassen asked, sitting down next to her. She nodded.

"I used to, when I was younger. Then I joined MI6, and I haven't paddled for ages now."

"I did it once or twice, and then I just forgot about it really." Kerryn nodded and sighed, swinging her legs back over the wall and grabbing Yassen's hand.

"Come on, we have to get up early tomorrow." She said and he nodded and jumped over the wall.

"Yeah, great." He said sarcastically, he put an arm around Kerryn's shoulders and felt her press against him. Tomorrow was going to be hard, they would have to break into the airport and place the devices tomorrow. But that was tomorrow, and for now, it was just the two of them and a whole night. Yassen pulled her closer and they made their way to the flat.


	15. Chapter 15

**Heya, sorry for the long gap between updates, i fell off my scooter and cut both my hands, but my right hand is fine now so here it is! hope you enjoy, it's the longest one yet, i hit twelve pages on word :D anyway, please review but for now, enjoy...**

I woke up smiling; I could feel Yassen's arms around me. He was still asleep and I lay still, not wanting to wake him. Pale shafts of sunlight came through the slats of the blind and fell across my face. When they reached Yassen's, he stirred, sliding his arm out from under my body. His eyes fluttered, and then opened.

"What time is it?" he rasped. I smiled and shrugged. He blinked rapidly a few times and lifted his arm to see the face of the watch on his wrist. "Half eight." He said resignedly. I sighed; it meant that we had to get up. I slid out from under his arm, kissed him, and stood up, walking quickly to the bathroom for a shower.

"What time do we have to be there?" I asked as I came out, wrapped in a towel.

"Half nine." He said, walking over and pulling me close. His fingers worked on the twist of towel which was holding it up, but I pushed him away.

"You're hopeless, go and have a shower." He let go of the towel and kissed my neck gently, before turning and walking into the bathroom. I sighed and flicked my hair over my head to dry it. By the time Yassen emerged from the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist, I was dressed, and halfway through a bowl of cereal.

"You're quick." He said admiringly. I shrugged.

"It comes from years of being late for work. I can take a shower in ten seconds flat." He laughed and walked into the bedroom to look for some clean clothes. I finished my cereal and washed the bowl, it was quarter to nine already and I called to Yassen to hurry up. He swore at me as he came out of the bedroom.

"I'm hurrying!" He said, reaching for the cereal. I left him to eat and went to sort out the things we'd need for that night. There was a sudden clatter from the front door and I froze. Yassen walked into the hall and I followed tensely. He suddenly laughed and I jumped.

"Don't worry, Kerryn, it's just the paper." He said comfortingly, picking it up and unfolding it. "Hey, look at this." He said suddenly, handing it to me, there was a picture of a plane on the front page, Air Force One. I glanced at the headline: **AIR FORCE ONE LANDS AT EXETER.**

"Well, it's going to be more in the news soon: SCORPIA failed attack from Air Force One." Yassen said, smiling at me. I grinned back, but didn't really feel as confident as I looked; we hadn't discussed any plans to sabotage it. We had decided to wait until we had the devices and look at how they worked, and then decide how to wreck the plan.

Yassen seemed to know what I was thinking because he reached over and patted my hand.

"We'd better go." He said, abandoning his cereal. I nodded and grabbed my coat from the floor where it had been dropped the night before. Yassen held the door open for me before slipping an arm around my shoulders and leading the way down the stairs and out into the morning air.

It was full of the sound of traffic and thick with fumes, but it was far cleaner than London and I breathed in with relief. It took about twenty minutes to reach the place we wanted, a warehouse at the rear of the shops on the high street.

Yassen dropped his arm from my shoulders as we approached and I moved away a little, glancing around uncertainly. He gave me a reassuring smile and knocked three times on a side door. There was a scuffle of movement on the other side and a slit opened in the wall next to it. A pair of eyes appeared.

"Yes, what do you want?" a voice asked and the eyes narrowed suspiciously. Yassen moved a little so that his face was in the thin shaft of sunlight that slanted through the gloom. "Oh, Yassen, I didn't know it was you!"

"Clearly," he said coldly and I felt a shiver tingle down my spine despite everything. "Now let us in." the eyes disappeared and there was a sound of bolts being drawn back and keys turning in locks. Finally it swung open and revealed a short, balding man with a face so wrinkled that it looked like a walnut.

He shot me a wary look as I passed and I returned it as blankly as I could, he dropped his gaze and locked the door while Yassen led me through the warehouse.

"Gregorovich, are you here for the box things?" Yassen twisted in front of me, pushing me out of the way. His eyes flicked upwards and his face relaxed while his body dropped slightly from combat stance.

"Yes. You should know not to do that to me, I get jumpy."

"Paranoid more like. They're ready for you, this way." The man froze on the stairs when he saw me standing nearby. "Who's this? Finally decided to get a partner?"

"This is Kerryn." Yassen said, moving aside and motioning for me to step forward. "We're working together on this operation. This is James; he doesn't have a surname, well, not one that we know. He helped me on a mission once."

"And you shot me 'cause I shocked you." he completed wearily, holding out his hand. I shook it and gave him a brief smile. "Anyway, can't stand here all day, this way then." He turned and wound though towering shelves of boxes to an assembly line right at the back. There was a bag and four boxes of the devices stacked at the end. I picked up one of the boxes and prised it open.

"They're great." I said enthusiastically, looking it over and privately wondering how the hell we were going to sabotage them. Yassen took it from my hands and held it up to the light.

"They look ok, I'll make sure you get your cut of the money at the end of the operation." He replaced the device in the box and pressed the lid down. He hooked the strap of the bag over his shoulder and lifted two of the boxes and gestured to me to take the others; they were heavier than I thought they would be and slipped a little before I was able to get a good grip on them.

"You better, Yassen, you still owe me for shooting me." James called from the back as we left. Once we had reached the high street, Yassen turned to me and rolled his eyes.

"He's showing off, I think he likes you." There was a note of jealousy in his voice and I smiled.

"He's ok, not as nice as you though." He relaxed as I said that and smiled back. "What are we going to do with all of these, then?" I asked as we walked.

"I don't know. Maybe we could muck up the receiver so they can't be activated; it would be the best way to do it without letting any of the stuff escape." I nodded; it was the best…only idea we had and was better than the one I was going to suggest of plugging the spikes with something. It took almost half an hour to get back, the sun was high in the sky and the roads were almost empty.

The four agents were waiting outside the flats, sitting uncomfortably on the metal benches. Two of them had their hands curled around secret cigarettes, blowing clouds of smoke between their fingers. Yassen coughed and all four of them leapt upright, the cigarettes were crushed hurriedly underfoot and they marched over.

"Stop marching, you draw attention if you do that." I said quietly when they drew closer. They relaxed into a normal walk and lined up in front of us. Yassen looked them over and nodded reluctantly.

"You'll do. Now, you need to familiarise yourselves with the plan, there's a copy in the car." He tossed one of the men the keys and pointed it out to them. "Lock it afterwards, and look over it until you know it by heart. Then get some sleep and meet us here, in uniform at ten. But wear a coat or something to cover it up." He turned on his heel and walked over to the door just as it was closing he seemed to remember something and pushed it open again with his elbow. "Bring the key up! I'm in number 8."

The door swung shut again and we walked up the stairs in silence. We were both feeling the strain now and the air was tense. Once we reached the flat Yassen pulled out a toolkit and one of the twenty devices and began examining it minutely. I watched for a few minutes, unsure of what to do, until he gave a cry of excitement and grabbed a screwdriver off the floor and began to dig feverishly at one side.

There was a knock at the door and I got up and walked over to it. Yassen looked up and shook his head at me, but it was too late and I pulled it open. It was one of the agents and he looked shocked at finding me in what he thought was Yassen's flat.

"What do you want?" I asked coldly. He held out a hand with the key to the Porsche clasped tightly inside it. "Thanks, we were just… making sure the devices are working." It was the truth, but from the appraising look he was giving me, I knew he wasn't convinced. "Come and see if you want." I said resignedly, stepping aside. Yassen was standing in the sitting room, device in one hand, screwdriver in the other. I glanced down and saw that he'd laid a set out for me.

"Is everything ok?" Yassen asked tightly. I shrugged and looked at the agent.

"Yes, everything's fine." He said nervously, backing up towards the door. He turned and fled once he reached the corridor and I had to suppress a laugh. Yassen grinned as I pushed the door shut.

"What was that about?" he asked, watching me as I sat down on the floor opposite him.

"Don't worry." I said, reaching for the device and the screwdriver. "What do I have to do with this then?" Yassen raised an eyebrow before moving round, and showing me how to destroy the receiver. It took me a few tries to get it right, but I eventually got the hang of it and within an hour we had done all twenty and repacked them. It was midday.

I made myself a sandwich and ate it slowly. Yassen had gone out to the land rover that we would be using that night to load up and check that we had everything we needed. Once I had eaten I went for a walk along the canal again, I needed the fresh air to clear my head.

Time flies when you're dreading something, and I was dreading this operation. Before I knew it, it was five and time to get some sleep. Yassen was waiting for me in the sitting room. He stood up when I came in and pulled me into a hug.

"What's this for?" I asked. He pulled back and looked at me.

"So I can remember you." He said sadly, and pulled me close again. Tears prickled my eyes and I sniffed. I felt Yassen's chest heave under my hands as he took a deep, shuddering breath. I stepped back and look up at him. For the first time ever, his eyes were damp, though he was trying to hide it.

"We need to get some sleep." I said, unsure of how to react. He nodded and picked me up. I squealed in shock, and then laughed. Yassen smiled and carried me over and put me on the bed. He lay down next to me and we just lay there, wrapped in the other's arms.

We must have slept, because next thing I knew, the alarm was ringing in my ear. It was time to go.


	16. Chapter 16

**Heya, it's me again! Sorry for the long gap between updates, I'm house-sitting, but anyway, here it is, I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and the last bit of this is for Ninjamonkeyts3! oh yeah, i want to hit 50 reviews before i put up the next chapter so PLEASE review! anyway, Enjoy...**

Yassen swung into the front seat of the black Land Rover and started the engine as Kerryn clambered into the passenger seat. The four agents were crammed into the back, squinting out of the darkened windows into the golden light of the street lamps.

"Everyone ready?" Yassen asked tightly. There were a few short nods but no one spoke. Yassen reversed out of the space and out onto the main road. He knew the way to the airport; he'd looked over it again and again on the map until he knew it by heart. So he was able to let his mind wander while he drove on autopilot.

His heart was hammering in his chest with nerves, he was normally totally calm, but he'd never tried to wreck one of SCORPIA's biggest missions before. He sighed and forced his concentration back to the road, trying to keep it off of the mission ahead.

It took them almost twenty minutes to reach the airport, but they didn't turn into the main entrance. Instead Yassen drove the car along the road by the perimeter fence and finally pulled it off the road and up a short bank before swinging it round and parking it behind the hedge between the road and fence.

"Out." He said shortly and the Land Rover rocked as the other five climbed out. He heaved one last sigh and followed them out onto the cool grass. The four men, Yassen still didn't know their names, were unloading the tools and the boxes that contained the modified devices. Kerryn was scanning the airport through a pair of binoculars, not night vision, there were too many lights around.

"What can you see?" Yassen asked, moving over and standing next to her.

"Take a look." She replied sullenly, passing the binoculars to him. He raised them to his eyes and looked around. There were four guards around the plane, two beneath the door, on either side of the steps that still slated from the door, and two more patrolling around the edge in opposite directions. He turned his head, scanning the distant buildings. There was no sign of life except for the spotlights that threw glaring beams of white light against glass, and concrete, and grass, and the painted metal of the planes.

"We'll be fine, they don't look experienced." He said quietly, returning his magnified gaze to the four men around the presidential plane.

"Neither do our four." She whispered back, facing back towards the car. Yassen glanced over his shoulder to see the four of them fumbling nervously with weapons and bullets. He sighed and, handing the binoculars back to Kerryn, moved smoothly down the bank to the car. The four men fell silent and still as he drew nearer, but he ignored them.

He removed his Grach from its customary place in the holster at his hip and swapped it for a Socom .45 suppressed. It was a close range weapon, much like the knife that he had strapped to the inside of his arm. And it was almost as silent, plus it was light and almost invisible beneath his shirt.

"Ready to go?" he asked tightly, looking each man in the eye. Each gave a curt nod and slung their weapons over their shoulders. Kerryn gave a low whistle and they jumped, all except Yassen who just looked up sharply. It was time.

He led the way, dressed in the black clothes of a ninja, while the others followed in combats. They reached the gap in the wire mesh fence faster than anticipated and squeezed though silently. Kerryn moved up to stand at Yassen's side and he felt his heart quicken for a couple of beats.

"You've got ten minutes." He said to her. She nodded and slid away from his side, moving quickly, furtively around the edge of the ring of light. The soldiers were staying in a hut at the far side of the airport. Yassen watched as she slipped inside and then counted in his head. In a little over five minutes, she reappeared and waved an almost invisible arm: All clear. Yassen jerked his head and the men behind him moved forward.

"Three minutes, go." They followed Kerryn's footsteps to the hut, arriving with only a minute or so left before they had to take the places of the next shift of guards. Yassen counted under his breath, watching with sharp eyes as Kerryn waved again, before pushing the four men forwards, towards the plane. They put on a swagger and easily fooled the men, who were tired and distracted by the prospect of bed.

"It's worked, how long should we wait?" Kerryn's voice came from the undergrowth and he spun around.

"Give it ten minutes." Yassen said quietly, watching as she teased herself free of the tangle of brambles.

"Ok, I'm going to change." She vanished into the darkness and Yassen turned back. Their agents were convincing, two by the steps, two patrolling in opposite directions. If he didn't know any better, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference. If they all got out of this alive, the men would be getting put forward for promotions.

Yassen shook his head and peered over his shoulder into the darkness. Kerryn appeared a few moments later, smearing black body paint over her face and hands. Yassen took the tub and did the same. They looked at one another, almost completely invisible against the hedge.

Yassen turned back and sat down, training his gaze on the plane. He was aware of Kerryn moving over to sit beside him, but didn't look round. The ten minutes passed quickly, too quickly. It seemed all too soon that they stood up and, keeping low, started across the ground. Yassen was in front, bent double, with Kerryn following behind. Both were carrying black-painted boxes and Yassen had a bag slung over his shoulder.

He gave a whistle as he ran and one of the agents standing at the foot of the steps turned and walked up them, appearing to check that the door was still locked, when he was, in fact, unlocking it. It took a minute or so to hack through the computers, and then he walked back down to ground level, nodding to Yassen that it was done.

He smiled tightly and gestured to Kerryn to follow him. He slid out of the darkness into the silver discs of light cast by the powerful spotlights trained on the plane. The two agents stood aside for him and he ran up the steps and in through the open door, checking that Kerryn was close behind him. She was and he gave her a small smile. She returned it and then ran to the left, staggering slightly under the weight of the boxes under her arms.

Yassen watched her go before shaking his head and dashing off to the right. It took a few seconds for him to find the service door, and another couple to work out the codes from the small hand-held computer that he drew out of his back pocket. He was in.

He made his way through a maze of struts and wiring and out onto the metal walkway that led out into the wing. He had to crawl, pushing one of the boxes in front of him.

He took out a blow torch and, lying on the cold metal, proceeded to burn through the sheet metal of the wing. It twisted on a few strands of metal which made slight twanging noises as they cooled. He quickly fit one of the devices into the hole and, burning another hole through the metal and pushing the spike through so about, he soldered it back into place. It looked invisible against the grey metal and he smiled and moved forward.

He did the same for the other four in the box, moving out along the wing until he could scarcely crawl on his stomach. It was with a sigh of relief that he finally turned and sqirmed back along the walkway, dragging the empty box behind him. He took a few seconds to compose himself, kicking the box under the walkway as he did so. Then he stepped off the walkway and plunged underneath the flooring of the plane. He could hear Kerryn on the other side, her movements echoing loudly along the metal sheets.

He took a deep breath, wiping a hand over his scorched, sweaty brow and set to work again. He laid the last five, meeting Kerryn in the middle, The last two were laid side by side and, as Yassen soldered the last piece of metal into place, they heard gunfire outside. Yassen's head snapped round and he gazed at the sheet of metal as if he could see through it to the gunfight outside.

Kerryn turned and scrambled along the walkway and Yassen hurried after her. They emerged into the lush interior of the plane with their guns drawn and ran to the door. Yassen held up his hand, balled into a fist, and edged forward so he could see out.

Two of the agents were dead, their bodies were sprawled at the foot of the steps. The others were still standing, though one appeared to have been shot; his left arm hung limply at his side. There were at least ten black-clad figures attacking them and Yassen considered it a minor miracle that there were any of them left alive.

As that thought entered his head there were two startlingly loud gunshots and the two remaining men were flung backwards, red blood spraying from their chests. Yassen let out an angry breath of air and was about to race down the steps into the middle of the group when he felt Kerryn's hand on his arm.

"Don't." She whispered, reaching over and pulling the Socom from his hand. "Put your hands up and walk out slowly when they tell you to." Yassen twitched as he felt the barrel of his own gun press briefly against his back.

"I trusted you." He growled. The gun was hastily removed.

"You still can, I'll keep you safe." Kerryn ducked around his back and held out the hand with the gun in it, only to drop it in plain sight of the doorway, and the advancing group.

"Come out of there, keep your hands where we can see them." It was a voice with a British accent and one that Kerryn obviously knew for she gave a short gasp andtook a couple of hurried steps forward.

"Blayze!" she exclaimed and vanished from Yassen's sight, he could hear her feet hitting the metal steps.

"Kerryn, you ok? Where's the assassin? You're safe now." Yassen sighed and stepped out into the doorway. He was instantly struck by a dozen laser sights and he could see the red dots dacncing over his chest.

"Hands up!" Someone yelled at him. He raised them half-heartedly, but Kerryn gave a shout and the guns were lowered. Yassen dropped his hands to his side and moved slowly down the steps, keeping his eyes on Kerryn. As soon as his feet hit the tarmac, he was seized and forced into handcuffs. Kerryn watched helplessly as he was dragged away.

They forced him into an armoured van and handcuffed him to the rail which ran down the sides. He looked back at Kerryn for an instant before the doors slammed shut, blocking out all light and plunging him into darkness.


	17. Chapter 17

**heya, here it is ,guys, hope you enjoy it, it's kinda one of those in-betwen chapters, so no action to speak of, but i hope you like it anyway...**

I watched guiltily as Yassen was handcuffed and driven away from me. Blayze was talking to me, but I wasn't listening and he eventually fell silent, following my eyes as I watched the van driving off of the runway.

"What's up with you?" He asked once it had vanished behind one of the huge hangars. I shrugged.

"Nothing." I lied; I didn't want to explain it all to him. But he clearly wanted to know. He grabbed my arms hard and turned me round to face him.

"Liar," He hissed. "Tell me what's wrong." His grip tightened on my arms and I let out a little gasp of pain. He seemed to come to his senses and released them. I staggered backwards, rubbing my arms.

"I'm fine." I said shortly before turning on my heel and stalking off. I marched up to one of the groups of men and met their group gaze coldly.

"What d'yer want?" one of them grunted. I ignored him and looked at one of the others.

"Where's Yassen been taken?" I asked quietly. One of them stepped forward, glanced back at the other memebers of the group, and began to relay directions. I listened carefully, and then repeated them to make sure I had got them right. I had and walked off towards the furthest hangar.

It took me almost ten minutes to reach it. There were about twenty men patrolling the perimeter, with four at each door. They clearly knew that I was with MI6 because they let me pass without checking for any weapons or ID. I didn't have any ID, but my Socom was still in the holster at my hip.

The hangar was divided into separate rooms with long corridors cris-crossing all over it. A guard appeared out of nowhere, walking purposefully towards me.

"Miss Baines?" He asked, I nodded and he continued. "I've been asked to show you where Yassen Gregorovich is being held. If you'd follow me please." He turned and I followed quickly, horribly reminded of the cells in the SCORPIA compound.

"Just in there, Miss." The guard said, pointing to a door flanked by two other men. I walked forward, suddenly nervous. One of the guards stepped up and pulled the door open. I stumbled inside and I shut with a clang behind me.

Yassen was handcuffed to the bed, his hands and arms stretched above his head. He looked round as I came in but turned away almost instantly. Ther was a knot of rope tied at the back of his head, trapping strands of fair hair painfully inside it. I padded over and slowly untied it before lifting yassen's head a little and gently pulling the rope out of his mouth. I flung it away, seeing that there was blood on it.

Yassen slowly rolled over to face me again and I saw the sides of his mouth were raw and bloody. I reached out and, with the sleeve of my jacket, gently wiped the worst of the blood away. He let me do it, watching my face the whole time. He didn't speak until I had finished.

"This is safe?" He asked bitterly. I shuffled a bit closer and shook my head.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't want this to happen."

"But it did. And now I'm stuck here, they won't risk letting me go, even for you, Kerryn." Despite everything, I still felt that little thrill when he said my name.

"I'll tell them you were helping me-"

"And then they'll want to know why. Do _you _want to tell them? Because I don't." I sighed; he was making sense. He always did.

"If it's that or die though…?" He shook his head.

"I'm not going to tell them anything about me and you, if you want to tell them, fine. But don't expect me to collaborate your story." My eyes widened as I realised what he was saying, that he would have nothing more to do with me if I told anyone.

"I won't tell them." I said quietly, tasting defeat. He smiled painfully, his eyes warming for a second or two. I glanced quickly at the door, and then leant in and kissed him. I could taste blood, his. I didn't care if he kissed me back, just that this could be the last time I saw him and I didn't want to waste it.

But he did kiss me back, pushing his face hungrily against mine and straining his arms against the cuffs that held him on the bed. It seemed an age before we broke apart, but at the same time seemed to be only a few seconds.

There were voices on the far side of the door and I flung myself back into the chair while Yassen hurriedly shuffled his body back to the middle of the bunk.

"Who's this? Ah, Miss Baines, we wondered where you'd gotten to." It was Alan Blunt. Usually I found his presence reassuring, but not this time. His eyes were cold when he looked at Yassen lying sprawled on the bed. "You took his gag off." He said accusingly.

"Yes." I replied, raising my chin defiantly. He gave me the same cold look before turning his attention back to Yassen. I turned and did the same, hoping that no one was looking at my face because I could feel the pity and longing etched into it. Yassen was glaring at me and I knew he could see what I was thinking. I turned away.

"Yassen Gregorovich? We know a lot about you, one of our agents was part of SCORPIA, he knew you very well." Blunt was goading Yassen, trying to make him angry, so he'd make mistakes. I almost laughed; they'd have to do a hell of a lot more than that to make Yassen angry. Maybe Blut knew it, because he changed tactics when Yassen fixed him with the blank stare he was so good at.

"Your mission failed, we killed the four men you posted as lookouts and we've found all twenty of those boxes you planted. You might as well tell us what they do, we'll find out soon enough anyway. And it'll help your case if you help us; you might only get life in prison." Yassen snorted with laughter.

"You need to work on your bargaining skills." He said derisively. Blunt's face closed and he fell silent. No one spoke for a while, and then Blunt turned on his heel and strode out of the room.

I followed to the door, just far enough to hear what Blunt muttered as he passed one of the guards,

"Kill him." I felt a gasp tear from my lips and then shrank back as Blunt looked at me. He didn't say anything and strode off down the corridor, flanked by guards. I stepped back into the room with Yassen and sat on the bed beside him.

"He wants you killed." I whispered, feeling the words stick in my throat. Yassen nodded and I looked at him incredulously.

"I'm not afraid of dying," he explained. "It's almost the first thing you have to learn: not to be scared of anything, especially not death." I nodded at that. It was one of the first things we learnt too, but it didn't make it any easier. And yassen was just so calm; I'd seen prisoners hear that they were going to die, even the most highly trained ones let a flicker of fear, or worry show, but he just lay there, his features calm and peaceful.

"I won't let them do it." I said fiercely after a few minutes of silence. Yassen opened an eye and looked at me.

"You can't stop them." He said slowly. I shrugged.

"They can't kill you if you're not here." He laughed at that and I gave him a playful punch. "I'm serious. Do you think you'd be able to escape?"

"I could, if you help me. But they'll do it as soon as they can, we won't have any time."

"There's always time." I said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Yassen asked, raising his head.

"To ask for the key to your handcuffs." I replied, closing the door. The guards had left and it took almost half an hour to get the key off of one of them, after which I felt guilty as hell 'cause the poor guy was almost in tears, but it was worth it to see Yassen's face light up when I came back in with the key.

"I thought you'd abandoned me." He teased.

"Not a chance, you're stuck with me, I'm afraid." I said, unlocking the cuffs and throwing them to the floor.

"I can live with that." Yassen whispered, throwing his arms around my waist and pulling me down beside him on the narrow bed. He pressed his face into my neck and kissed it eagerly. I smiled at the high ceiling and ran my fingers through his close-cropped blonde hair. I could see natural light starting to seep though the windows high above, bleached by the harsh white light that flooded the hangar from powerful lamps set into the ceiling.

"Get off," I murmured, pushing at his shoulder. "If someone came in…" He put his hand over my mouth.

"Shhh, don't think like that." He said softly.

"I can't help it." I replied guiltily. He smiled and pulled away from me, swinging his legs over mine and standing up.

"Up you get then," he said, grabbing my hands and hauling me hard to my feet so that I staggered a little and fell against him. "Can't have you lying around all day."

"You did that on purpose. I'm going to go now, find out when they want to... when they…"

"When they want to kill me." Yassen completed as my voice tailed off. I nodded dumbly and he pulled me into an awkward hug. I left without another word, my heart thudding painfully against my ribs.


	18. Chapter 18

**Heya, it's me again! i hope you like this chapter, it's taken me ages to write, i lost half of it cuz my pc died, typical, so i've had to re-type it! grrr. But anyway, here it is, enjoy...**

Yassen watched her go. He was more worried than he was letting on; his training had turned his body into nothing more than a shell for the bit that was _him_. And he was scared that he wouldn't live to see another day. There, he'd said it, he was scared. He sat down on the bunk, head in his hands.

He tried to push them away, but thoughts of things that he'd miss filled his head. Kerryn was at the top of the list. Kerryn… he was certain that she hadn't meant to get him caught, why else would she have come in with him? And he was certain that he would have known if she'd been lying, her emotions were like an open book to him. He sighed and lay back on the bed, feeling the metal frame through the thin mattress.

He must have slept, sunlight was pouring through the windows high above when he next opened his eyes, he guessed it was after midday. And Kerryn was sitting at his side, watching him tenderly. His heart jolted when he saw that, he hadn't been looked at like that since he was about five, when he'd had the 'flu and his mother had sat beside him for almost three solid days.

He shook his head to clear it and then looked at Kerryn again. Her face told him everything.

"When is it?" he asked, forcing the fear not to how in his face or voice.

"Tomorrow afternoon is when Blunt wants it." She whispered reluctantly. Less than twenty-four hours to live. But Kerryn was looking furtive and fiercely upset about something.

"What else?" he asked, though he was sure he already knew.

"They're going to torture you, to make you tell them everything you know about SCORPIA." He could scarcely hear her voice, she was so quiet.

"I won't tell them anything," He said. "Unless you want me to…?" His mouth formed the words before his brain could catch up, and he realised that he _would_ betray SCORPIA if Kerryn wanted him to. The knowledge was disturbing and he turned his eyes to the ceiling, high above them.

"I don't know what I want." Kerryn said after a pause. "Part of me is saying that you should, but part of me is saying that you shouldn't. I don't know which would be best, if you told them then you'd be in danger from SCORPIA, but if you didn't tell them then you'd be in danger from them."

"More danger than I'm in already?" Yassen asked dryly. Kerryn gave a reluctant smile.

"You know what I mean. They might just…kill… you straight away." He could see the strain on her face as she said that and gently touched her arm. It seemed to give her strength, and when she looked up again, her eyes burned with new resolve.

"I won't let them do it." She said stubbornly and Yassen smiled at her. "I'll get you out of here, I promise." He wasn't sure if he believed her or not, but he didn't want to try and work it out. It was enough that she would say it. He moved closer to her and pulled her into a hug.

"We'll work something out." He whispered into her hair. He pulled away from her and sat down on the bed, deep in thought. Kerryn moved out of his field of vision and he felt her arms slide under his shirt and around his waist. Her head came down onto his shoulder and he turned his head to kiss her cheek.

"What sort of security do they have around this place?" He asked quietly.

"There are twenty men outside at all time, patrolling in pairs, two on each occupied door, and up to four on the outside doors." She replied automatically.

"All this at an airport? And not even a big one, why?" Kerryn shrugged.

"I think they just wanted to have a base in most cities, the airport's quite a good place when you think about it, they have their own security, and it's mostly hidden from outsiders." Yassen nodded thoughtfully, it did make sense. He sighed.

"It's your turn to think of the plans, any ideas on how we can get out of here?" he said. Kerryn shook her head, banging her cheek against his. He sighed and his head dropped forward.

"I know how we can get _you_ out." She replied, Yassen missed the slight stress and leant away from her so he could turn his head and look at her properly.

"So why did you shake your head?" He asked, confused.

"Because I can only get you out, not me. You'll have to go alone." His face fell with his heart and he looked away.

"But you have to come with me." He said weakly. Part of him knew that it was useless to argue, but a greater part wanted to take any chance of keeping Kerryn by his side. She was shaking her head, her eyes soft.

"I can't, I'll stop them looking for you, but if I go too then they'll try even harder to find us." Yassen looked at her quizzically, he had always got the impression that MI6 didn't care about Kerryn. "I've been promoted; I'm just one level down from Ian Rider, now." It felt like someone had punched him, to hear the name "Rider" tossed out so casually, especially by Kerryn.

She must have seen his reaction, he hadn't hidden it. He'd been too shocked to hide it. She reached around his body and took his hand.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly, Yassen shook his head; he didn't want to talk about it. She looked at him curiously for a few more seconds, then sighed and dropped her head back onto his shoulder.

"So what's the big plan then?" Yassen asked. Kerryn explained in as much detail as she could while Yassen listened impassively. He knew that he should be impressed by the idea, it was genius, but he just couldn't gather any enthusiasm. He wasn't sure if it would work, he didn't want to get his hopes up, and so he dismissed it, concentrating instead on Kerryn. On the feel of her body against his back, the soft breaths on his cheek as she spoke. He sighed and rested his head against hers.

"It'll work." He said when she had finished.

"I know. And I hate it because of that." Yassen heard her gasp, and then felt tears soaking through the material of his shirt. He turned and wrapped his arms around her, feeling his own eyes prickle and itch with tears. Tears of rage and denial, but tears all the same.

He didn't let them come, but concentrated on comforting Kerryn. She was burrowed into his chest, her whole body shaking and shuddering against him with the force of her sobs. He lifted a hand and stroked her hair gently, unsure of what to do.

It was almost an hour before she finally choked back the sobs and looked at him with red-rimmed, puffy eyes.

"Better now?" Yassen asked. Kerryn gave a small, embarrassed hiccup and smiled guiltily. He returned it and lay back, pulling her down with him. She rested her head on his chest and they lay in silence, each just glad to be with the other.

They lay like that for hours, until the light coming in from above was gold and pink from the sunset. Yassen listened to Kerryn's gentle breathing which had been a feature of his nights for over two weeks now, and wondered how he would talk his way out of it with SCORPIA. He felt Kerryn move, interrupting his train of thought, and she looked up at him, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

"Hi, Sleepy-head, welcome back to the land of the living." He said to her teasingly. She gave him a playful slap and sat up. "When are we going to do your plan, then?" He asked, suddenly serious.

"Midnight." She replied shortly, looking away. Yassen's brow creased as he thought about this.

"Will they let you in that late?" he asked after a few seconds of silence. Kerryn turned and grinned cheekily down at him.

"Probably not, but, then again, who said that I'd be leaving?" Yassen raised an eyebrow, smiling. Kerryn laughed and bent her head to kiss him. He responded enthusiastically and smiled into her mouth as her fingers began to work on the buttons of his shirt.

There was a grating sound at the door. Yassen recognised it instantly, a key, turning in the lock. There were two locks, they had about ten seconds. He sat up, his hands flying to his shirt and pulling Kerryn's hands from his chest before doing up the buttons. Her face was pale now, she had realised what was going on. He felt her vault off of him and lay back, trembling, as she collapsed into the metal chair on the far side of the cell.

She caught his eye and rolled hers, looking thoroughly annoyed. He gave a small smile before composing his face into its usual blank expression. The door was thrust open a moment later and three men and a woman walked into the room.

Yassen knew two of them, one was Blunt, his face cold and stony, not just in expression, but colour too. The woman was Mrs. Jones. They had a history, he had killed her father, had been there when she vowed revenge. He shuddered at the gleeful expression on her face.

The other two men were strangers to him, though one looked vaguely familiar, like a half-remembered dream. But a quick glance at Kerryn's expression as he sat up, told him that they were very high up in the hierarchy of MI6. Blunt stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"As you have decided not to speak about what you know of the organisation, SCORPIA, we have come to the conclusion that it would be best for you to be executed." Yassen kept his face blank, but he could feel his heart racing. He had hoped that, maybe, Kerryn was making it up. She wasn't, and he was going to die, unless her plan worked.

"You will be interrogated tomorrow morning, and if you still refuse to talk, you will be executed at three in the afternoon." Yassen's face was still blank, but he was sure that they would see his worry.

"Now, I don't believe you've met any of my companions?"

"No such luck, I've met that bitch before." Yassen replied savagely, turning his cold eyes onto Mrs. Jones. She smiled at him and he caught a whiff of peppermint.

"Very well, but let me introduce you to these two men. This is Aidan Kabe. His brother was Matthew Kabe; you killed him on his twenty first birthday." Aidan glared at Yassen, the pain in his eyes so apparent that Yassen had to look away. It was his job, what else could he have done?

"I believe that my final companion will provide you with the most interest, he was eager to meet the man responsible for his brother's death too, even if you didn't have a direct role in it. This is Ian Rider." Yassen sucked in an outraged breath and glared at Blunt. He hadn't been responsible for John's death; it was Mrs. Jones, standing over his shoulder. He'd seen the video, seen her mouth move, giving the order.

Blunt looked away, and Yassen turned his eyes to Ian. He was the one that had looked familiar, and now Yassen understood why: he looked very much like John had. The same eyes, the same firm-set mouth, the same tension. For a crazy second, he almost thought that he was John, but the hatred was too clear in Ian's face. He glanced at Blunt, who shook his head, and drew himself up to attention. It was the only way he knew of showing his power when he couldn't speak. Aidan did the same.

"We will see you tomorrow morning for…interrogation." Mrs. Jones said from the back of the group. Yassen glared at her, allowing his fury and hurt to show for a second. She looked away and led the others out of the room. None of them had noticed Kerryn, sat against the wall.

"That was…" her voice tailed off. Yassen was shaking with rage and tears spilled down his cheeks unchecked.

"I hate them." He whispered, and somehow that whisper was worse than thousand yells. "I'll kill them, one day. I promise." He was talking to himself, he had forgotten about Kerryn. But then she came over and patted his arm awkwardly. He turned his head into her shoulder and allowed himself a few minutes of sobbing. By the time he drew away from her, his eyes were dry again and burned with vengeful excitement. Until they turned to Kerryn, when the fire died and his expression softened.

"Life's a bitch." She said, seeing him looking at her. He raised an eyebrow, and then let out a laugh. He reached out and pulled Kerryn down beside him.

"You're right, it is. And it's a bitch that bites." Kerryn laughed gently, and then turned her head and kissed him. He deepened the kiss, and forgot everything as he lost himself in her.

An hour later and they lay together, finally spent. Their bodies were slick with sweat which glistened under the powerful white lights. Yassen smiled at Kerryn and then sat up suddenly, almost throwing her to the floor.

"What's the time?" he asked hoarsely. Kerryn swore and turned her arm so that she could see her watch.

"It's half ten." She said, relaxing back onto his chest. Yassen put his arms around her, trying to forget that they would be going their separate ways later. He sighed and kissed the top her head. She responded by taking his hand and bringing it to her lips and kissing each of his fingertips gently.

The remaining time passed in a flash, or so it seemed to Yassen. Before he knew it they were dressing, and Kerryn was going to fetch his handcuffs again. When she came back, she snapped them around his wrists and hung the keys from a clip on her belt. It was time to go.

**Ok, if you can guess what Kerryn's plan is I'll give u a cookie! Hope you enjoyed it!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Heya, sorry for the HUGE gap between updates, i lost the memory stick that i saved this chapter on, and i've only just found it. Sorry if it's a bit short, but i hope you enjoy it...  
**

I nodded to the guards as we passed, one winked at me but I ignored him. I made sure that I kept a firm hold on the cuffs as we wound through the corridors. Yassen was walking like he owned the world, but that was just his way of keeping calm. It didn't fool any of the guards, they just treated him like any other prisoner, after all, he was unarmed.

If they had known how highly trained in martial arts he was, and that even handcuffed he could easily kill them all, they might have treated him with a little more respect. But he put up with it, although I could see the strain in the line of his neck. He was fighting against his instincts to kill.

Finally, after a muttered excuse to the guards on the main doors, we made it out into the night.

"Well that was easy." Yassen whispered, bending down to put his mouth to my ear.

"We're not out of it yet." I warned. We fell silent and Yassen straightened as a pair of guards walked past. One of them held out his hand for my ID, I held up a badge that I'd been given earlier that day. He examined it, and nodded to Yassen,

"Who's he?" he asked shortly.

"Yassen Gregorovich," I replied, feeling a tiny shiver as I said his name. "He's from SCORPIA." The guards face tightened with hatred at the name but he kept himself under control, like Yassen was doing by my side.

"Where are you taking him?" He asked persistently.

"He's got to go and see Mr. Blunt. I'm taking him there." The guard finally nodded and handed back my badge.

"Be careful, he looks dangerous." I nodded, lifting my shirt a little to show him the Socom tucked into my belt.

"I'm prepared." I said confidently. He raised an eyebrow disbelievingly, but eventually moved off after his partner.

"You shouldn't act so confident. I'm dangerous, armed or not." Yassen hissed in my ear once we were out of sight of the guards.

"You're in handcuffs, how much damage do they think you can do?"

"They've seen other SCORPIA agents, they know how well trained we are." I sighed and nodded.

"Ok, I get your point." I said eventually, taking a tighter grip on the chain of the handcuffs. We kept walking, and then stopped in the middle of the area of grass between runways.

I took the key from my belt and unlocked the cuffs. Yassen rubbed his wrists and looked at me in the darkness. I felt my eyes start to mist over and blinked them rapidly. I had promised myself that I wouldn't cry. Yassen took a step closer to me and lifted me up, then, kneeling, lowered me to the ground. The grass was soaked in dew and it seeped through my clothing, chilling my back.

"Take care of yourself." He whispered hoarsely. I nodded, then, realising that he wouldn't see that in the blackness, replied aloud.

"I will. You too, don't get yourself killed or anything." I heard him laugh gently and smiled a little. "Take this," I said suddenly, pulling the Socom from my waistband and handing it to him. "It's yours and it's what they'd expect you to do. Remember me when you use it." He took it gently and then kissed my forehead.

"I'll remember you even when I'm not using it." He said slowly. He opened his mouth to continue, but there was a sudden shout and a pair of torches suddenly appeared, racing towards us. Yassen's head snapped up, his mouth open in a snarl of rage and pain. He lifted the Socom but I pulled it down automatically.

"Don't, please don't." I said. He dropped his hand to his side and turned back to me. He leant closer.

"I love you." He murmured and my heart stopped, it was so full of happiness.

"I love you too." I whispered. He kissed me again, one last time. It was rushed and clumsy, but neither of us cared. The torches and the men holding them were only about fifty yards off now. "Go, Yassen, go." He swayed and I pushed him away.

"But…" He muttered.

"They'll kill you, go. Please, don't get yourself shot." He nodded reluctantly and stood up. He turned and vanished, leaving me lying on the floor. He wasn't a moment too soon, there was a harsh crack and bullets tore into the night. I yelled, more to attract attention than from fear, and flung my arms over my head, praying that Yassen was far enough away that he was safe.

I felt a hand on my arm and lowered them. One of the guards was bending over me, looking concerned.

"It's ok, he's gone, you're safe now." He said, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief. The plan had worked. Yassen was safe. And because I was on the floor the guards assumed that he'd knocked me down and escaped by himself. Perfect. The other guard returned, shaking his head, he hadn't found Yassen, he'd got away. I almost cried with relief, it had worked. And then I started crying with sorrow, he was gone, and I'd probably never see him again.

I felt hands lifting me and then I was cradled against someone's chest, sobbing violently. There were voices all around and I realised that the other guards had come around to find out what the noise was about. Further back, I could see Blunt watching coldly. It would be all hell to pay in the morning, but I was safe for now.

It was morning before I was able to open my eyes without them filling with tears; I hadn't thought that I'd miss him so much. There was a man standing against the wall, watching me. I stared at him coldly and he looked away. I sat up, taking in where I was, and let out a gasp. They had put me into the same room as Yassen had been kept, when I had lain with him only a few hours before.

I was still fully dressed, and climbed out of the bed. The guard by the wall came over and took my arm, not like a prisoner, but for support. I snatched it back and followed him to Blunt's office; I wanted to get it all over with.

"In." he said shortly, holding the door open. I stepped inside and he let it swing shut behind me, keeping himself on the outside. Blunt was sitting at his desk he looked up as I walked forward.

"Ah, Miss Baines, I hope you are feeling better after your…accident last night," I nodded, but didn't speak. "There seems to be something out of place however, you met a guard on patrol last night, am I right?" I didn't reply, so he continued. "You are reported to have told him that I wished to meet with Gregorovich, I didn't. So why were you out there with him, armed, and carrying the keys to his cuffs?"

I remained silent, keeping my face blank, Yassen had taught me how. A flicker of annoyance crossed his face but he kept his voice calm and friendly.

"Look, it's better for everyone involved if you tell the truth, including Gregorovich." That got my attention.

"How is it better for him?" I asked suspiciously.

"We put a tracker on him, we know exactly where he is, a flat near to Exeter quay at the moment. Tell us everything, and I'll prevent the retrieval team from going to get him." I hung my head, hating myself for what I was about to do.

I told him everything, except that Yassen and I were lovers. I kept my eyes on the floor through it all and ignored the sounds Blunt made as I told him about SCORPIA's plan. Finally I finished by explaining some of the reasons that I had helped Yassen to get away. There was a long silence and then Blunt sighed.

"You're an honourable agent," He said. It was hard to tell if it was a compliment or not. "You'll do very well." So it was a compliment. I smiled, though I was still a little uncomfortable. There was an uncomfortable silence and I fidgeted with my hair for a while.

"Will you leave Yassen alone?" I asked suddenly. Blunt started, jolted out of his thoughts. He narrowed his eyes at my use of Yassen's first name, but didn't pass comment on it.

"Yes, you've done what I asked, so I suppose we'd better leave him alone, for now at least."

"Call them now." I ordered, not convinced that he'd keep his word. Blunt raised an eyebrow, but smiled and reached for the phone. I relaxed then, Yassen was going to be safe.

**I feel better now i've updated! i hope you liked it, please review! PW**


	20. Chapter 20

**Ok, i have officially run out of ideas, so this is the last chapter. I don't know if i like it or not... but please review and tell me what you think, even if you only say "It's crap" and end it there, lol. Anyway, here it is...  
**

Yassen stood in the cubicle, trying to kid himself that the streams of water running down his face were from the shower. He had found the tracker when he undressed, a tiny pill slipped into his shoe. He should have checked before, but after seven hours of sitting on red alert, watching for the faintest sign of something out of the ordinary, he had decided that Kerryn had persuaded them not to come after him.

He stepped out of the shower, rubbing his face on the towel before wrapping it around his body. It was almost nine AM and there was still no sign of an attack. He relaxed slightly and began shoving clothes back into the two cases. His heart contracted every time he picked up an item of Kerryn's clothing, they all smelt of her.

He felt his eyes prickle and rubbed at them angrily before settling into the rhythm of folding and packing. It took almost an hour, but he eventually hefted the two cases out to the Porsche and slammed them into the boot. The three-hour drive passed in silence, unlike the journey down which had been full of laughter and talking.

Yassen swallowed the lump in his throat and forced himself to concentrate on driving.

Julia Rothman was waiting outside the compound when he pulled up, her face cold and angry.

"Where's Baines?" She snapped, yanking the door open.

"Kerryn…was killed with the agents. MI6 killed her." Julia looked at him sceptically but didn't question his story.

"The operation failed," She said, laying the blame on his shoulders. Yassen nodded, looking away. "You and the others have cost us half a million pounds." He sighed quietly, slipping his hand into the holster at his hip and running a finger up the barrel of the Socom. Mrs. Rothman cleared her throat and Yassen's head snapped upright.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked coldly. Yassen opened his mouth, briefly considering lying to her but deciding against it.

"I was wishing that Kerryn was here." He said, carefully omitting the word "alive".

"Why?" Julia asked, fast as a rattlesnake. The suspicion in her voice was all too clear.

"She was good at her job; we could do with more agents like her." He made himself sound enthusiastic about what he was saying and it seemed to fool Julia.

"Yes, but ideally they wouldn't get themselves killed. How did she die?" Was she questioning his story? Yassen wasn't sure.

"She was with me, escaping, but they shot her when we crossed the runway."

"You didn't kill any of them?" Julia asked, surprised. Yassen shook his head.

"She told me to run, just before she died. She told me not to get myself killed. So I ran instead of fighting them." Julia nodded and Yassen relaxed a little, his cover was intact.

"You did the right thing, but I'm surprised that they wanted you dead."

"I'm not sure that they knew who we were; to them we were just a couple of people who had seen too much. So they tried to shoot us."

"In the circumstances, you did well. But we need to find out how MI6 found out about the operation." Yassen nodded, but shrugged at the same time to show that he didn't have a clue how they had been found out. "Go home." Julia said eventually, turning her back on him in a clear dismissal. Yassen stood to attention for a second before turning and walking back out to the car.

He didn't go back to the SCORPIA flat, or his own, but drove aimlessly around, his mind on Kerryn. He would be dead by now if it wasn't for her, but he felt dead. He hadn't expected to miss her this much; his heart plummeted every time he thought about her and he, Yassen Gregorovich, heartless killer, felt tears prickle his eyes if he let his thoughts dwell on her for any length of time.

He swore and brushed his eyes with the back of his hand and glanced up, a helicopter was hovering overhead, rotor blades slashing at the air. Then, as if feeling his eyes on it, it spun away and disappeared behind the tall buildings on either side. Yassen felt a twinge of unease in his stomach, but dismissed it; he was safe from MI6, wasn't he? He sighed and turned the car towards his flat. He could hear the helicopter over the roar of the traffic and couldn't push away the feeling of uneasiness. He sighed again as he pulled up in a car park, he didn't want to be followed to his flat.

He didn't her the helicopter again, but he couldn't forget it. He let himself into the flat and stopped dead. Kerryn was sitting on his sofa. The open window gave away her method of entry. She smiled nervously as she spotted him and stood up. They stood still for a second, watching each other warily. Yassen's suitcase dropped from his hand and broke open. Kerryn laughed, cutting it short out of nerves.

Yassen stepped forward and pushed the door shut. Kerryn was tense, her body trembling. Yassen gave a small smile and suddenly found Kerryn in his arms. He bent his head forward and breathed in the scent of her hair. He realised how much he had missed her, even though it had been less than twenty-four hours. He pulled away, looking past her out the window, the dying sun casting its bloody light over his face.

"Why are you here?" he asked shortly, he could see the helicopter again, it had landed on top of a building a few streets away. The unease returned, making him brusque. Kerryn turned, staring intently at the chopper. She sighed.

"I wanted to see you, they gave me a lift."

"You led them to my home?" He said accusingly. Kerryn shook her head violently.

"No, I got them to land there, and then made my way over here-"

"And broke in." Yassen interrupted. Kerryn inclined her head, neither confirming nor denying it. Yassen shrugged, slipping his arm around her shoulders and relishing in the feel of her head against his chest.

He staggered suddenly and sat down hard on the sofa. Kerryn turned to him, eyes bright with fear and worry; from his behaviour he could have been shot. But there was no blood. Yassen stared at her, through her, deep in thought. His face was tight with pain.

"What's wrong?" Kerryn asked eventually, crouching in front of him and pushing her body between his knees.

"Us," Yassen replied shortly. "Everything…" His voice tailed off and then returned, stronger than ever. "I can't see you again, and you have to forget about me. We're too different."

"We're not," Kerryn said firmly. "I meant what I said at the airport, I love you." The words set his heart racing and his body ached for her, but he forced himself to ignore it, turning his gaze again to the red sky outside.

"What do you do? On your missions, what sort of thing do you do?" Kerryn looked startled by the question, but recovered quickly.

"I try and help people, destroy a danger, stop people killing others…" her voice tailed off as she realised what Yassen meant.

"Do you want to know what I do?" He asked bitterly, Kerryn shook her head, blinking back tears. Yassen continued regardless, thinking that if he could make her hate him, she would forget him and move on.

"You saw what I did to Marsh: that was tame compared to some things I've done, I've killed more people than I care to count, men, women, even children. For money, and because I enjoy it, killing is my life, take it away and I'm nothing." He was lying through his teeth, trying his hardest to push her away, to make her loathe him along with the rest of SCORPIA. He was sickened to see that it seemed to be working, tears fell from Kerryn's eyes and she was choking back resentful, reluctant sobs. Yassen stood up, forcing Kerryn to sit back on her heels. He walked to the window, gazing out into the dusk at the dark shape of the chopper.

"I'll leave you alone," He turned, looking at Kerryn. "But I won't betray you, and I don't hate you, I'll never hate you." She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around him. He fought the urge to return the embrace and she pulled back, kissed his cheek and left without another word.

He stood stiff and silent, watching and listening. Within a few minutes, he heard the blade of the helicopter rotor begin to turn and stared into the darkness, he saw the flickering lights ignite and lift into the sky. He followed them with his eyes until they had long since passed out of sight.

Yassen turned back, colder than ever, and went to bed. He was alone again, and swore that he always would be.


	21. Chapter 21

**Ok, i KNOW i said that the last chapter was the final one, but that very persuasive AssortedJellyBeans has convinced me to write this. thank...her?... for this!! and enjoy!!**

Yassen sat up, his soldier's sense tingling. He slowly got out of bed, wincing as his chest gave a painful twinge; it had been hurting more and more often recently. He slipped on a pair of jeans and, as an afterthought, a bullet-proof vest.

He stepped silently out onto the patio, picking up the Socom from the table in the hall. The moon was bright overhead, dyeing the garden black and silver. His sharp eyes darted around, years of training taking over. He had retired from assassination two years ago, but he knew that he would always be a target.

There. A slight movement caught his eye and he flicked the safety off, holding the gun more readily. He felt a little comforted by the easy grip, the way it sat so naturally in his hand. Taking a breath, he slid sideways along the wall, keeping low, and then raced down the steps. His bare feet hit the soft, dewy grass with a soft squashing sound.

He moved slowly across the lawn toward the place where he'd seen the movement. There were footprints in the dew-coated earth but whoever had been there was gone. He let out a breath and turned suddenly, bringing up the gun. He had heard something from the house and ran towards it, racing silently up the wooden steps and through the back door.

He stopped, staring. She was older, her face more lined and her eyes more knowing, but it was her. Kerryn got up easily and smiled.

"Hi." She said, trying to break the silence that stretched between them.

"Hi." Yassen echoed, his face paler than usual. Kerryn gave a small laugh and Yassen smiled slightly. She tilted her head, watching him closely, as if looking for something. He met her gaze coldly.

"You're… different." She said finally, looking disappointed. "You look colder, like you lost something that made you… human." She spoke quietly, but Yassen heard every word.

"I lost you." He said, hating himself for the tears that filled his eyes suddenly, blurring his vision. He rubbed them away. He hadn't thought of that time for years, the sleepless nights, the times when he had sat on his bed, knife braced against one of his wrists, wishing he could stop hurting. He set the Socom down, scared of the tide of emotions and what they could do to his judgement.

"I'm sorry." Kerryn said, jolting him out of his reverie. He shrugged.

"It was my fault, I made you leave." His mind still shrank from that, and this was the same as ever.

"I shouldn't have gone though; I should have stayed and made you let me keep seeing you," Her voice broke as she continued. "I missed you so much, I never forgot you." He heard her choke back a sob and hated that he had made her cry again.

"I made myself forget," he said, "It hurt too much to remember." Kerryn sobbed harder than ever and Yassen walked over to her, unsure of what to do. He was spared the decision by Kerryn, who stepped forward and into his arms. It was suddenly as if no time had passed, they were twenty-one again. He breathed in, a great gulp of air scented with her familiar smell, and he couldn't hold the tears in any more. They spilled over his cheeks and landed in her hair.

He regained his composure after a few seconds and pulled back. Kerryn smiled up at him, her expression so helplessly happy that his heart melted. He smiled back, feeling better than he had in years. He sat down on the sofa, wanting to pull Kerryn down with him as he would have done when they first met, but the years stretched between them suddenly and he let her lower herself down.

"I missed you." He said honestly. She nodded and shrugged.

"I missed you too."

"How did you find out where I lived?" he asked suddenly. She laughed.

"I followed you. It wasn't easy, you kept looking back. You knew I was there." Yassen nodded thoughtfully, remembering the walk she was talking about.

"And why did you break in?"

"I didn't. Well… I didn't break anything, at least." Yassen raised an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean." Kerryn shrugged.

"I wanted to, it's what I did the last time I saw you, so I thought I'd do it again. It was harder with you here."

"I could have shot you, you know that?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you would, but I stayed out of sight anyway, just in case." Yassen rolled his eyes, that was so like Kerryn, taking stupid risks. But he smiled too and she laughed. He let out a short laugh but stopped it short, wincing and pressing a hand to his chest, gasping.

"What's wrong? Yassen, what's wrong?" he shook his head, biting his lip. Finally he straightened, his face paler than usual.

"I was shot by Damian Cray." He explained shortly, his face closed. Her eyes registered shock but she didn't press him for details.

"You're still an assassin?" She asked eventually. Yassen shook his head.

"No, that was a couple of years ago, I retired." He said, smiling slightly. Kerryn returned it and moved a little closer to him on the sofa. Yassen felt his heart quicken, a feeling so familiar that it was like seeing an old friend again.

"So what have you been doing?" he asked casually, hiding the burning curiosity. Kerryn shrugged.

"Nothing much." Yassen raised an eyebrow and she laughed and started telling him about what she'd been doing. She had been moved from active service a few years ago but, not wanting to leave, she had decided to do the paperwork instead. That was how she had found Yassen again.

"-So I came to see you, and here I am." She finished finally, smiling. Yassen smiled back, naturally wary but overjoyed to see her again. She stood up and walked over to the window, hesitantly taking his hand as she went.

He followed her but loosened his hand from her grip. He saw her face fall a little and smiled, slipping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close against his side. He glanced sideways and saw her face lit up, her eyes dancing with joy.

He turned her gently away from the window and out onto the balcony.

"Look at the sunrise." He breathed as the first golden rays swept across the ground before falling on their faces.

"It's gorgeous." Kerryn agreed, putting her arm around his waist. He felt his skin tingle and let out a sigh. Then he turned his attention back to the sky and, side-by-side, they watched the new day arrive.


End file.
